Everything's relatative
by VanG Ziggy ZA
Summary: When a simple heist goes wrong, Sly ends up playing babysitter to Carmelita's baby brother's while a maniac he has to stop plans for a world empire. Chapter 20 is up!
1. Computers and Toy guns

Ziggy's corner: Okay this is my first attempt at Sly Cooper, be nice.

EVERYTHING'S RELATIVE

"COOPER!" her voice echoed through the cool autumn, Paris air. The Master thief paused for a second to smirk, and turn around on a power wire. Sure enough, Carmelita bounced out of her apartment's window, wearing a loose flowing night gown. The raccoon's eyes scanned her slender body, and he felt his grin grow wider. _Carmelita is hot in anything she wears._

"You've done some low things Ringtail, but coming into my apartment when I'm getting ready for bed, is low even for you," she snapped.

"Come on detective," he said, with a chuckle in his voice, "can you really blame me?" Sly leapt into the air, tossing a medium sized bag into the air, as the Interpol officer pulled out her electroshock rifle and fired. The grayish light blue ball raced past the raccoon and snapped a television antenna into multiple little bits.

Sly did a triple flip and into the air, folding his arms to his chest, as time seemed to slow down to a snail's pace, landing on the edge of the next building's edge. The bag dropped smoothly into his awaiting arms, and he swung it over his shoulder, spinning on the tip of his toes as another electric bolt soared in his direction. "Besides, as much as I would love to say so, I didn't come just to see you – that was just a bonus."

"Then what were you doing here?" she asked, firing another blast as she landed on a telephone wire, and slid on it with her bare feet. As soon as she came to the edge of the building where Sly was, she leapt into the air and spun in numerous circles, almost as if she were an ice skater showing off her skills. "What's in the bag, thief? I've never known you to have to use one before?"

"That's because I've never had to carry something so big, as what I had to borrow from you," Sly said, rushing towards the edge of the building and leaping onto a second ledge. "I needed some files in your computer, but unfortunately there was no time for Bentley to hack into it, or for me to print out the files," he said, his chest raising and dropping, as his shoulder protested at the weight. _Why is this thing so heavy?_ He felt sorry for talking the entire thing but time was of the essence.

In her computer was a file about the Ruby of the Tricoli people in Australia. It was rumored to have major destructive powers enough that could take out a city in the wrong hands. And right now it was indeed in the very wrong hands. Charlie the Great, also known as Steel Jaw, was holding the stolen gem in his underwater coral reef mansion, underneath the Australian continent.

Charlie was a card shark, who one millions of dollars using his special deck of cards. Many people fell to his tricks, and many more had worshipped him as the greatest card player of all time. He used his money to buy himself a jaw full of razor sharp; cyber controlled choppers, and intimidated even more players. But one tournament in Vegas caught him using his special cards, and after that, banned him from ever playing the game again. He was even forced to pay back all of his millions to the tournaments for his foul play. Now he was determined to make everyone pay, and with that Ruby, no shipping route, or even smaller islands around Australia would be safe. He could use the Ruby to make Australia itself a weapon! Sly was not about to let that happen, but in order to stop Steel Jaw, he had to get that info from Carmelita's computer.

"You are going to jail Cooper, just make it easy on yourself, and come quietly," she snapped, aiming her rifle once again.

"Come on my curvaceous, little detective," he answered yet again – a tinkle in his eye. "Anything that is easy can't possibly be fun."

"Why don't you try it just once and then decide," she hissed, pulling the trigger. It soared right at the thief, and there was a massive explosion. A moment later, she rushed over to the pile of destruction where Sly had stood and looked around, a gasp coming from her mouth. "Oh my God!" she shrieked. She bent down and began digging through the rubble and gray ash, her eyes began tearing up. "Cooper, Cooper, can you hear me!" _I wanted to catch him, not kill him!_ "Sly, damn it, where are you!" She frowned for a second, _Sly?_

A moment later she heard an odd sound, kind of like a weak chuckle, and her hands pulled dirt and rumble out of the way even faster. He was alive! But where?

"Thanks for the vote of concern, Detective Fox," Sly's voice floated up to her, and she looked at him, her features transfiguring from horror and sadness, to utter rage. Sly stood next to his gang's get away van, or their second van, as the first one had floated away since the incident in Canada. Over his shoulder he heaved the heavy bag, and winked at her. "I really appreciate it, but I have to be going now, cutie."

Carmelita's body shook with uncontrollable Latin rage. She slowly rose to her feet, and shook her fist, her electroshock rifle taking aim at the Raccoon. "Cooper!" it was like an inhuman roar, like the rumblings of a volcano right before it was going to explode. She took aim, and fired, missing as the van raced off.

From the corner of his eyes Sly could she her shake her fist and launch uncountable swear words in both Spanish and French. Then as he watched, a bonus, a gust of wind swept underneath her, and lifted her skirt just slightly, revealing her 'unmentionables'. Sly felt his jaw drop and his eyes grow wide at the sight. Then he turned and shook his head with a chuckle as the van turned the corner.

"If only I had let Bentley bring his camera like he asked," he said with a laugh.

Carmelita stormed back into her apartment, her eyes wild with fire. _Damn that Ringtail!_ She stroked her light reddish fur on her arms and dropped into her large leather couch. Her head was pounding, and her heart was bashing against her chest in more reasons than one. She looked down at her night dress and shook her head, her raven locks flowing into her chocolate brown eyes. What was wrong with her? Chasing him in her nighties! How many other people, besides that thief, had been watching her?

Carmelita stood up and walked into her kitchen, the only thing in her apartment that was smaller other than her bathroom. Everything else looked like it belonged in a suite. She went to the refrigerator and opened it up. There was a long bottle of wine, but she decided against it. It would calm her nerves, but it would give her one hell of a migraine. That was the last thing she needed. She scanned the fridge and then picked up a container of juice. As she was pouring a glass, the phone rang, and she rushed to pick it up.

"What the hell is it?" she roared.

There was a long pause, and then a strong feminine voice snapped, "Carmelita, it's your mother."

The Interpol Officer felt her jaw drop and swallowed. "Hello momma," she said stammering.

"I just want to see how my little mijos are."

There was another pause, and sweat began to trickle down her forehead. "Mi-mijos?" she asked nervously.

"Yes, Carmelita," her mother said. "My _mijos,_ you know your little brothers? Gabriel and Christian? The two little brothers you promised your father and me that you would watch for the weekend while we went to an important conference in Vienna?"

Carmelita swallowed and felt her blood pressure triple just standing there. "Oh, the twins, right," she said cheerfully. _Damn Cooper to hell, how could I forget about the kids?_ "They're asleep; I just put them down an hour ago. Well, that's partly true; she promised them that if they behaved, and didn't tell their parents, they could play on her . . ., COMPUTER! "Um momma, I've got to go. I've got another call coming in. I'll tell the boys that you called and give them your love, bye." Before her mother could say another word, Carmelita pushed the off button, dropped the phone, and rushed to her computer room.

"Christian, Gabriel?" she called. She swallowed and flipped the switch to turn on the light. Everything seemed to be in its proper place, with the exception of her computer. If she hadn't caught Cooper she would have never known anyone had been in this room. Then her heart skipped a beat. The kids, neither of them had been in the room when she caught that thief, in here.

Carmelita raced through the apartment, screeching her brothers' names, flipping couches over, pulling her clothes out of her closets, cheeked the bathroom, twice. Finally she ran back into her computer room, and sat down. Her apartment definitely looked like it had been ransacked by a thief now. She shook her head and groaned, biting her lips. What was she going to do now?

Then she spied a piece of paper near the computer table, with light red letters written on it. It had looked like it had been brushed to the ground, possibly by Cooper, by accident. She walked to the paper and picked it up, read it, re-read it, and nearly fainted. _Holy mother of all fucking SHIT!_

"I. Can. Not. Believe. This," she hissed.

The van slowed down as the gang reached the headquarters, and the thief, and his gang rushed into the building. Bentley quickly locked the door as Murray pulled down the shutters, and grabbed a triple large mucha, hungry man's burger.

Sly grinned as wide as the Cheshire cat and rubbed his hands together. "Well, shall we get started on that file now?" he asked Bentley.

The turtle turned and nodded with his own grin. "You know, I hear Detective Fox's computer is state of the art," he said, and then frowned. "Um, we are going to give it back right?" He fidgeted with his fingers, "Once we have the file that it."

"Of course," Sly said with a roll of his eyes, and a chuckle. "Just as soon as we get that file, we'll be one our way."

"On your way to jail, Ringtail," a tiny male voice snapped, seemingly coming from the bag.

"You and your gang are under arrest, Cooper," another tiny little voice snarled, seemingly agreeing with the first.

Sly leapt back with a frown and stared at his friends. Murray's jaw was limp, and his burger fell neatly from his mouth. Bentley was shaking, and scurrying to his cabinet of supernatural protection items.

"O-kay?" Slowly Sly undid the tie that bound the sack together, and it floated to the ground, revealing not only Carmelita's computer, but twin foxes, dressed in makeshift police officer uniforms. One of them had light brown hair, the other reddish black hair with freckles and glasses that slid down his nose.

The larger of the two stepped forward with a determined, yet uneasy grin and pointed a toy gun at Sly, holding toy cuffs in his other hand. "In the name of Interpol, and the Fox family, Mr. Cooper, I place you under arrest."


	2. Potty breaks and uninvited guests

It took everything Sly had, not to burst into hysterics right there on the spot. The larger of the twins frowned and looked to his brother, who shrugged and motioned him on.

"Didn't you hear me?" he snapped. "I said that you are under arrest. Now put your hands in the air!"

"Should I wave them like I just don't care too?" he asked, fighting back a chuckle. The Master thief took a step back and raised his hands in the air, nodding to his two friends to do the same.

"Sly this is serious," Bentley wailed, looking at his friend. "We're going to be wanted for kidnapping now." The turtle looked at the twin foxes, and yelped as the larger of the two squirted him with water.

"Relax Bentley," Sly said, his grin slowly starting to slip. He turned to the boys and nodded. "But he does have a good point; does your sister know where you two went?"

"You, you knew that we were Carmelita's brothers?" the shorter of the two squealed.

"Well, yes," Sly said, inching closer to them, granting them another of his famous Cooper grins. "You're brilliant detective work, your quick wits, and the famous Fox banter," he began, scooting closer to them. "Carmelita's not married, and she doesn't have a relationship with anyone else, so that counts out you two being her sons. Your mother is young enough to have such smart boys, so that must mean to two of you are Detective Fox's brothers."

The two of them looked at each other and grinned from ear to ear at the compliments, before the larger of the two scowled and blasted Sly with a stream of ice cold water. "Well, we could have been her cousins you know," he snapped. "And that's close enough, Mr. Ringtail, I've been watching you try to get close to use to disarm me for the last couple minutes."

Sly chuckled again, and looked around the hideout. Maps littered the wall, documents on vicious criminals were scattered all over the desks, well, the ones not covered with Murray's burgers wrappers and what not. Sly keep his arms up and began to think. These two weren't much of a threat, but he didn't want to overdo anything and hurt them. "You _are_ Carmelita's brothers, very good detective." He backed up and nodded to them. "So, who may I ask has the privilege of taking in the 'notorious' Cooper gang?"

The twin holding the toy gun and cuffs smirked right back. "I'm Gabriel Andrew Fox," he nodded to the smaller of the boys, "and he's my brother, Christian Alfonso Fox. And like we said before, you are under arrest."

Sly nodded and looked to his team, giving them a wink. "Well then Detectives Gabriel, Christian, it is a pleasure. Not many officers would be capable of following us here, let alone getting in, but," Sly shrugged, throwing the two of them off guard. It was just the distraction he and his friends needed. With lightning quick reflexes Sly bounded toward Gabriel, and gently tripped him with his cane, catching the boy by the back of his shirt. Murray and Bentley had little trouble catching Christian.

"Let us go, Ringtail," Gabriel roared, screaming with rage as Sly took the gun and cuffs from the boy. "You can't treat us like this, you, you're a criminal."

"No I'm a thief," Sly said, his tone turning serious, as he and his friends tied the two boys onto nearby chairs. "And you two are just _kids_, you're lucky it was _our_ hideout you managed to get into, and not someone else's."

Bentley began to pace back and forth looking at them, his fingers twitching the whole time. "Sly what are we going to do now?" he whined in his nasally voice. "I mean this was supposed to be a simple job, get Carmelita's computer, get the info off of it, and that was it. Now what are we supposed to do with two children!"

"The same thing we're going to do with the computer, once we're done with it," Sly said, struggling as he lifted the machine off the ground. _Damn I never knew computers could get this heavy!_ Murray rushed to his side, and helped his friend put the machine on the table. "Return them to Carmelita."

"You can't do that!" Christian barked.

"Carmelita will be waiting for you, if you do," Gabriel agreed. "And besides, she might be pissed with us for coming after you."

"She wouldn't be a very good big sister if she wasn't," Sly said, his back to the boys, forcing himself not to smile. "Besides, I look forward to seeing her so soon."

"And the two of you shouldn't be using bad words," Bentley chided, "it's a bad habit to get into."

"Whatever you say, _dad_," Sly replied with a chuckle. He looked over at his friend, and sighed at his hurt expression.

"Well it _is_!" Bentley snapped back. Sly apologized, and the genius turtle let it go. He knew Sly was only ribbing him anyway.

Christian howled that it had been Gabriel who had used the bad word, and that he shouldn't have gotten snapped at, while Gabriel moaned that they didn't need to be nagged on proper behavior by people who were constantly breaking the law. Finally, to keep the peace, Sly had Murray set the boys in front of the television, and turned on Cartoon Network, a moment after which, with a curse word of his own, Sly leapt to switch to a different station, no realizing that Adult Swim was on.

Half an hour passed, and Bentley worked tirelessly at trying to find the proper code word. When he finally found it, it took him another fifteen minutes to find the proper file. With a self satisfied smirk, the techno turtle clicked print, and the pages began to roll out, one by one.

"I hafta pee," Christian groaned groggily from his chair.

"Can't you hold it?" Sly asked which got a shake of the head by the little fox. The raccoon sighed and ran his fingers through his short gray hair. "All right then." He untied the boy, and led him to the bathroom. "Don't take too long." Without thinking, Sly closed the door, and was rewarded with an ear piercing screech from the other side. It caused everyone to jump, and Murray to drop his cup of hot chocolate onto the floor. At least it would have landed on the floor, if it hadn't landed on Bentley's lap first, which caused him to let out a tsunami of curse words.

"What's the matter?" Sly asked, zipping the bathroom door open.

"Murray spill hot coco on my God damned lap!" Bentley roared.

"Not you, Einstein," Sly snapped. "And watch your _language_, there are children present." He turned to Christian, who looked up sheepishly at him.

"You closed the door," he wailed.

Sly sighed, rubbing his eyes. "So?"

"You didn't even turn on the light," he snapped, his lower lip quivering. Sly calmed down a little and groaned. He apologized, and fixed the problem, leaning against the wall while the little fox did his business.

"Hey, Ringtail," Gabriel snapped, his eye wider than saucers.

"What now?" Sly sighed, "Do you have to pee too?"

"No, but who is Prince Albert?"

Sly crinkled up his nose and thought? _Prince Albert?_

"This guy on the television show with the bison with really long tangley hair said he really loves showing off his Prince Albert to other people. It's kind of weird and all, he's not wearing any pants, and their blocking something out of sight."

Sly's frown grew wider. _Prince Albert, bison with tangley hair, not wearing pants, and – HOLY SHIT!_ Sly's, Murray's, and Bentley's heads all snapped in the direction of the television set.

"Next I guess they're going to spank some woman because she gambled," he said, watching a commercial about a car.

Sly dashed over to the television and punched in the display button. To his worst fears, four devious words popped up on the screen. _OOOOOOHHHHHHHH SHHHHHHHIIIITTTTTT!_

"The Bison Masters Show, Sly?" Murray screeched.

"Oh yeah, get mad at me because I curse a little, but it's okay for you to turn Carmelita's little brothers into naughty late night television addicts!" Bentley snarled, while still managing to both blush and stammer.

"Hey I didn't know that creep was on this channel," Sly snapped, hitting the V-Chip button and blocking the station. "It was a documentary about CSI when I turned it on."

"So who is Prince Albert anyway?" the boy demanded, looking as sternly at them as Carmelita catching them in the act of thievery.

"The Prince of Sweden," Sly answered quickly, switching off television. "Anyway it's time for bed; you kids have had enough excitement for one night." He walked over to the bathroom door, and gently knocked on it.

"You okay in there?" slowly the door opened and a wide eyed. Christian looked up at the raccoon, and blinked.

"Fine," he said in a quivering tone.

"You pooped didn't you?" his brother snarled. The smaller boy sheepishly nodded his head and slinked over to his chair.

"What's wrong with that?" Sly asked, his eyebrows arching downward as he took a step into the bathroom. A second later Gabriel warned him about the consequences, but the master thief ignored the boy.

He walked in slowly, as if he were using his time freeze technique, and his eyes widened with absolute horror. "What the fuck!"

_**Ziggy here: I don't normally like to interrupt my story half way through, but in this case I'll make an exception. Please insert horror theme music of your choice here, although I think that the theme from Psycho works the best. **_

There was poop alright. It was in the toilet – though Sly couldn't figure out why it wasn't flushed – and it was also on the floor, on the walls, behind the toilet, over on the bathroom sink, both near and in the shower, on the shower walls, and somehow it even managed to get onto the ceiling. It was as if the kid had walked in here, and then exploded in shit, only to rematerialize, and then explode in even larger doses of shit! As if someone had loaded their shotgun with crap, and fired it blindly around the bathroom, or used a shit sub machine gun and went to town painting the bathroom gooey doses of all shades of brown, yellow, red, and some green.

_Green shit! What does Carmelita and her family feed this kid! _The stench was unbelievable; Sly could smell corn, radish, brown rice, mushrooms, undigested apples, which made it really chunky, and other unmentionable things. He never did drugs, but the brown and yellow haze swirling around the room had to be almost exactly the same as if one had smoked any illegal substance.

Eventually he managed to sneak out of the room, his fur darker than Bentley's skin. He turned and faced his two best friends, both of them could smell the stench, but neither seemed to realize how bad it really was. Against his protests, both entered, and exited just as fast. Murray could hardly keep from a combination of gagging and laughter, while Bentley was now whiter than a sheet, at the moment Sly looked more like his friend than he did himself.

"It's not scientifically possible," the turtle managed to squeak, looking over at a very embarrassed and very bitter young fox. "That much toxic waste couldn't possibly come from a body so small."

"Bentley," Sly chided. "Keep your voice down."

"But Sly, there was more waste in the bathroom than there was in Mz. Ruby's lair!" the turtle protested.

"Still it can't be his fault, and I'm sure it's embarrassing him a great deal," Sly said, reprimanding the turtle. Bentley looked over at the poor fox cub and sighed.

"You're right Sly, I just wasn't expecting all of that in there." He sighed again and looked at his watch. "I'm kind of tired too. We should get the computer and the boys home before Detective Fox gets too angry with us."

"We're all tired, and I think the boys have had more than their share of excitement," Sly said. "We'll take them home in a couple of hours. Right now we just need some sleep." He turned to Murray and motioned for him to come over.

"Take the boys and set them in my bed, I'll sleep on the couch tonight."

"You sure, Sly?" When his friend nodded, the hippo saluted and turned on his heels. "Then the Murray is on the job!" Murray hurried over, untied the boys, and threw each one over a shoulder, scurrying into the raccoon's room.

"Relax Bentley," Sly chuckled, twirling his staff. "I know it's been hard, but I can't see how it could get any worse than this."

As soon as he had said those words, there was a knock at the door, and then a thump. Before Sly could make it to the window, an explosion knocked him back on his feet, and a dozen of Charlie's goons rushed into the hideout.

A crazy looking hyena wearing jet black bifocals, a blacker than night leather jacket, and Nazi looking goose stomping boots passed between the dingos and the tazmanian devil thugs who were wielding fierce looking rifles. Behind him crawled a scorpion with bright blue eyes, long shining winter gray blue hair, and in one of her hands, a nasty looking whip. Her eyes met with Sly's and she smiled.

"Zis is him, I take it, ya?" the hyena asked the scorpion, his accent a thick, Bavarian German.

"Yes," the scorpion replied her Japanese accent strong and determined. "Good morning, Cooper-san, I believe you know why we are here."

"Sly?" Bentley asked, looking at his best friend.

"Yeah Bentley?"

"I think it just got a lot worse."

**_Well two chapters down, let me know how you like it, if I get 5 reviews I'll try and get more chapters up as soon as I can._**


	3. Fights and Sugar Rushes

"Cooper-San, I suggest you hand over the computer and those files, before things get very," the scorpion smiled, there was something innocent about that grin, yet in that very innocence, there was something very creepy and sadistic. Her face was very, very thin – thinner than the Contessa's. Her clothes were white leather, and clung to her very sensuous frame as if someone had painted it on. The scorpion's eyes were light blue, and seemed to be mesmerizing, almost instantly Sly felt a soothing sense of relaxation fill his body. "Interesting."

"Sly, Sly!" Bentley screeched, pushing his friend back and forth, trying to wipe his silly grin off of his mouth. "Wake up! She's hypnotizing you, just like the Contessa did during your fight with her." The turtle swore and slapped his friend's face, leaving a large welt mark on Sly's blue gray fur.

"Nyoko, haz that effect on most men," the hyena said grinning. He folded his hands, and nodded to his goons, who immediately began ripping the gang's hideout apart. "Ve know vhere the computer iz, but could you be zo kind az to tell uz vhere the files from it are?"

Nyoko turned her gaze on the turtle, and he frowned, narrowing his large spectacled eyes. Her tail whished through the air, just every bit as dangerous as her whip, so much so the turtle wondered why she even used a whip at all. The scorpion slinked up to him and began sliding her very cool, very ice hands over his cheeks. Bentley began to feel a heat in him he had never experienced before, and began blushing.

"You are the computer expert of the Cooper Gang, surely you can tell me where the files are," she leaned extremely close to him, their bodies pressing against each other, and she whispered in his ear, "_for me, please?"_

This time it was Sly who would be there for his friend. There was no way he was going to let these thugs get that info, even though to be honest he had no idea where it was at the moment. His eyes scanned the scene, watching dingos and tazmanian devils were smashing everything in sight. _That's good, that means that even though I don't know where it is, then neither do they._ "Bentley, don't listen to her," he ordered.

That was all it took for the scientific reptile to come back to his senses. Bentley pulled away from her and pulled out his crossbow, as Sly spun around and snatched his cane from underneath a mountain of broken plates and scattered papers. The two friends stood side by side, no doubt the third member of the troupe had heard the sounds by now, and would have been right at their sides, if not for the boys.

It was then that Sly's eyes grew wide with horror. The boys those little would be Interpol officers, with very cunning thief instincts. It must have been them, or one of them who had taken the papers. And as a few of the dingos, and one of the tazmanian devils slowly began to approach Sly's room, his instincts grew very primal.

Sly leapt into the air, slowing down time – the second time this whole night he had used this technique, or seemed to anyway, on the twins. _I always wanted to use this technique with a Fox, but I always thought this would be so much more amorous when Carmelita came towards me, when I did this._

"You are not going to go through here," he snarled. His foes took a step back, and grinned just as viciously as his tone had come through. That was their first mistake. Spinning his cane, he sent one dingo back with a broken jaw, while tripping another with a round house leg drop.

Murray was having a much harder time fighting off the enemy, but he too was a force to recon with. What the heroes could not understand was why the hyena, or the scorpion had not gotten involved. With blurs or gray blue and green, the two friends, made paste out of the goons, but their hideout was much more of a tattered, ruined post war "bunker" than a hideout. Sly leapt to a cabinet that was still standing, and did a double back flip to land right next to Nyoko, to size her up.

"Smell pretty good," he said with a smirk, "but you are no Carmelita, hell you're barely a Contessa." _Liar, she's drop dead gorgeous._ But that _still_ got the reaction he wanted, a quick snarl, and a flick of her whip, which he swiftly grasped in both hands and spun her around like a top, before bringing her down, right into the bathroom. He watched her slip and slide through the thick multicolored goop, and grinned, glaring at the hyena.

"Don't think I caught your name, Mr.?"

"Dr. George Goren," the mad scientist like villain snarled. He put his hands behind his back and narrowed his beady eyes at the raccoon. "If you plan on fighting, please, zink again, Herr Cooper. I'm a thinker, not a violent goon."

"That I very much doubt," Sly snapped. "The non violent goon part, not the fighting part," he added. He smiled, leaning against his cane. "And zink again, if you wanted to wash your hands, all you had to do was ask."

The doctor narrowed his eyes even more, and raised his upper lip, but stood motionless, as if he were a pagan god, glaring down at a mortal he thought worthless. "Ze documents, if you pleaze, Herr Cooper." He shot out an arm, which was stiff and livid. Sly snarled and swung his cane, and gawked at the doctor, who was now smirking again. The raccoon blinked and swung three times, once even feeling the particle motions around them, to see if the hyena was using a time technique – he wasn't. He was that damn fast! Naturally.

"If you do not comply, ze boyz will have to zuffer," he smiled, and motioned to Sly's room.

Sly gasped and looked back, seeing twin foxes wiggling in two dingo's hands. Murray and Bentley had been knocked on their butts, looking dazed, but otherwise okay. Behind them Nyoko stood, smiling coolly. How had he not heard any motion behind him?

"Another of the good Ninja's talents," the doctor said, dropping his harsher accent. To be honest, he only used it to intimidate and cause fear, not because it made him feel superior, but because it was so much damn fun. "Now hand over the documents," once again his hand stretched out and he wiggled his fingers. He blinked for a moment as the thief stood still and bared his teeth. "Now!" he roared, nearly stripping his throat.

"Fine," Sly said, defeated. His friends gasped, and watched him walk slowly to another drawer. He picked up a sheet of paper, and walked back over to the doctor. The hyena tore the paper from his hand, a self satisfied grin on his face – until he read the paper.

"Go bite yourself," he read out loud. He snarled and glowered at Sly. "What the Hell?" He was met with blue boot to his face. The Hyena groaned and tripped over the papers, slumping over the on the floor.

Sly rushed to the boys' aide, but skidded to a stop. Gabriel had grabbed the dingo's nose ring and was now pulling it out so far it nearly looked like the dog looked like he had been telling one too many lies. But that was the worst of his worries. The ring tore from his nose, and as it dropped, Christian snatched it, and slammed it right into the dingo's lower region, leaving the thug's eyes to widen so much he was now an anime character.

Sly chuckled. _Now **that's** a Prince Albert!_

"Interesting," Nyoko said, stepping over his friends. Her skin was sticky and foul. "But what are you going to do about me?"

"Been swimming in the sewer?" the Master Thief asked with a harsh laugh.

"Classic," she snapped with her own grin. She narrowed her body; both whip and tail flinging in the air dangerously. "Goodbye Cooper-San."

They began to fight, and the raccoon had to admit she was quick. And using both tail and whip she absolutely guaranteed at least one hit ever so often. For twenty minutes they fought, equals, up for a while. Then as he began to become smitten with her, she was pretty, but then again so had Neyla been, and he knew too much how that had ended.

That one instance of smitten foolishness cost him. Nyoko slashed out with her tail, and struck him deep in the flesh, in his upper arm. Sly screamed out, and threw his cane, which caught her on the side of her head. Just as quickly as it had struck, her tail retreated, and she turned to look at the other two, who were rising to their feet. She hissed, and shook her head, rushing for the exit, grasping the unconscious doctor and throwing him over her shoulder. Her tail reached out and grabbed the computer, and just like that, Charlie's two lieutenants were gone.

That left Sly and the gang, with the boys, to figure out what to do, which didn't take long. Sly's arm wasn't hurt too badly though it kind of burned a little. He shook the fogginess from his head, and looked at the mess.

"Bentley," he groaned, "get me the phone." The turtle protested a little bit, but decided to listen. His friend didn't look too bad. Sly picked up the phone, and quickly dialed. It rang once, twice, three times, and then he heard her voice.

"Hello," Carmelita said, friendly enough, but with enough tension that it was obvious if there was a telemarketer on the other side, and she found him, he'd wish that she'd had used a nutcracker instead of what she would _really_ do to him.

"Detective Fox --," Sly began.

"I'm not home right now, as some crazy, inconsiderate thief has caused me to leave at such a demonic hour, and if I catch him, he's going to wish that he'd been hit by a truck instead." With each word her voice rose, until she was practically singing punk rock opera.

Sly hung up the phone and swore. "Wonderful." He looked at the boys and shook his head. When he was asked what had happened, he told them, and they too shook their melons.

"Now what are we going to do?" Bentley wailed. The turtle began pacing back and forth, sweat pouring down his face. "I can't believe this!"

"Calm down, Bentley," Sly said, waving his hands. "We'll think of something."

"Wanna bet she went to Elisa's for help?" Christian said, looking at the taller twin.

"Or Ivan's apartment, she might have needed to go to Confession, if she said lots of bad words when she found our letter," the other twin said with a nod.

"Elisa, Ivan," Sly rose his eyebrows. Being a Carmelitaholic, he knew who they were, the detective's older brother and sister. Elisa, like Carmelita, was an Interpol officer, one who had nearly made Colonel. Ivan, or Father Ivan was a Catholic priest. The thief began to pace the floor. Eventually he dialed their phone numbers, though both were unlisted – I did say he was a Carmelitaholic, right? – and when neither picked up, sighed again.

"Sly, we can't deliver them to Interpol," Bentley said. "Well we could, but --," he shrugged, stroking his bald head.

"But we can't take them with us, I know, I know," Sly said. He sighed. "Well, let's just go to Morgan's apartments and see what we can do then."

Both his friends' eyebrows rose. "Morgan Skye?" Murray crossed his thick, stubby arms and scowled.

"I don't see how we have any choice right now," Sly said.

Morgan Skye was twenty two years old, with long blondish brown hair, and green eyes. Like Sly she was a thief, a master thief in her own right, but for the last five years she decided to "retire" and open up a chain of apartments around the world. She wasn't a raccoon like Sly, but a numbat, an Australian mammal that kind of looked like a squirrel with a really long snout and a less bushy tail, though she did somewhat resemble a raccoon, in some ways.

She opened her doors and smiled as Sly and the Gang stood there, with the twins. It was the sight of those two boys that made her grin drop, and raised an eyebrow.

"Decided to leave the business too, Sly?" She asked in her very thick Australian Accent.

"No, these are the siblings of a friend," he said, ushering the small group inside and closing the door behind him as quickly as a tornado strikes a town, and then leaves.

"Friend huh? Interesting." She smiled at the boys, and showed a distrusting Murray and Bentley where they could put themselves and the boys, and then walked down into her kitchen, where Sly sat waiting.

"Out with it, mate," she snapped; her eyes shinning in the rays of the five o'clock morning sun. "Those are Carmelita Montoya Fox's brothers, aren't they?" The raccoon flinched at the sound of her voice and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Morgan," he began.

"What happened back then all those years ago, happened, so shut it," she snarled. She didn't hate him but there was a strong dislike at the sight of the Interpol's siblings. "Look Sly, what did you get those two youngsters into? And what is this about?"

The male, master thief spilled everything that had happened so far, the female puffing out her cheeks from time to time as she heard things she did not like. When he had finished, it was nearly six, and he was yawning big time. The sun was higher in the sky and was now beginning to warm the kitchen, with its cool light brown wooden surface, its tiny bar and the small white microwave hanging over a massive black stove.

"You can stay here, to sleep, but I have business to take care of, and I really do not want the law at my front door, so --," she paused, jutting out a slender finger, "if your question is to if the boys can stay here, sorry. I do not have time to take care of two nine year old boys."

"It won't be for long," Sly began to protest, his eyelids dropping.

"Sly," she started to snarl, but sighed. "Go to bed, get your rest. Stay here for the day if you want, but I have important business out of country. I can't get involved Sly, not right now." She turned to leave, and waved her hands. "Good seeing you again though."

It was almost two in the afternoon when they all woke up. Sly used the bathroom, and then went into the kitchen, where his friends, and the boys, faces scowling out of distrust, tiredness, and uncertainty, looked at him.

Sly went to the refrigerator, and pulled out a few things, making his friends as sandwich, and the boys two hot dogs apiece, with thick milk. When they were finished, he asked them what they wanted for dessert.

"Carmelita says that we aren't allowed sugar," Christian said bluntly.

"Her clothes would probably burst right off her body if she found out," Gabriel said, nodding his head. "At least that's what Gracia always says."

Sly stood there dumbfounded. He blinked and shook his head, no sugar but the kid craps out green waste, what were they stuffing … broccoli down his throat? Then as he realized what Christian said, a small smile grew across his lips.

"Sly," Bentley snapped, pushing his glasses to his nose, with a knowing tone in his voice.

"Oh come on," he chuckled, it couldn't be that bad." He turned to the boys and handed each of them a candy bar. "I won't tell if you won't." He urged them on, teasing them that it was not poisoned. After a few minutes of hesitation, both boys gave into peer pressure, and down the delicious brown bars.

"You see? Nothing happened," Sly said. "It's like I told you all a --," he stopped talking as Christian grabbed two more bars and stuffed them in his mouth greedily, and then a third. "Uh, Chris?"

"His name is Christian," Gabriel snapped. "Don't call him --," the larger twin looked down at his brother, and swallowed. The boy licked his lips, thought for a moment, and grabbed two candy bars for himself.

"Hey, wait a minute," Sly howled. Too late, the boys scattered off in different directions, each holding at least twenty pounds of chocolate in his arms.

Murray stood there with his mouth a gap, his eyes wide with shock. 'Strong boys," he finally managed to say. Bentley looked at the hippo and then back at Sly, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, so chocolate makes them a little hyper," Sly said defensively.

"Uh, Sly?" Murray began.

"I mean, what kid doesn't get a little stoked on sweets once in a while, at least I'm treating them like kids," the thief continued.

"Sly," Murray said, his voice rising.

"It's not like they're going to do anything bad, or commit a sin or anything," Sly said, narrating with his arms, his eyes closed shut.

"Sly!" both the turtle and the hippo shouted in unison.

Finally he managed to hear them. "What!" he shrieked. He turned at the wrong moment, at the very wrong time, and a massive pain rushed through his groins as a very hyper Christian came at him with a croquet mallet. "Sweet Jesus," he groaned, grabbing his testicles, as he went down.

Murray rushed over to grab the boy, but jazzed on sugar, the child wiggled through his fingers, and dashed off, right after grabbing another handful of candy bars. "You guys, what are we going to do?" the hippo wailed.

"Catch them," Sly cried, bent over on the wooden floor. He was nearly in the fetal position, and he felt an overwhelming urge to suck his thumb.

Murray and Bentley, reluctantly left their friend, and rushed after the boys, who had now left Morgan's apartment and were bounding in and out of other people's homes. Bentley almost had Christian, but the child darted around him, and all the turtle had was very burnt hands as he grasped an old fashioned heater, and was chided by that apartment's tenant. Murray caught Gabriel, just as the boy bounded into a hot tub, two stories up from Morgan's apartment, but dropped the boy as he stared at a large chimpanzee and his small slender wife gap at him, both totally naked.

"Sorry, folks," he stuttered. He tried to turn to go after the boy, but slipped on some water on the floor, and splashed in the tub with them, his hands resting on the wife's bosom, and his other, which was underwater – well, you don't really want to know. Except that it cost him two of his top teeth, and a very sore jaw.

Bentley finally cornered one of the boys, he couldn't be too sure, his glasses were thick with moisture from sweat, as the child rushed back into Morgan's apartment, and was trying to throw a can of paint over her white lacey curtains. The boy looked up at him, smiled, and tossed the paint at him, covering the turtle in a slop of thick yellow glop. The turtle howled, and grasped the boy by his wrist, "That's it," he roared. "Time out!"

Those words must have been magic, because at the sound of them, Gabriel, who had been elated to escape the hippo, stood there dewy eyed, and gave a slight nod. Of course not before tossing all of his chocolate filled cookies all over the turtle, but at least he stopped.

Five minutes later, Murray was hauling in an extremely wound up Christian under his arm, and finally set him down, locking the toy handcuff around the boy's wrist, and the arm of a chair in the kitchen.

"What _is_ he saying?" Sly asked, rubbing his lower area, as he pushed himself up to the counter.

The hippo shrugged. "Well you got me, but I caught him just a block in a half away from here, he was pouring powdered coffee down his throat like it was a waterfall or something."

For a moment, Sly stood there, and then began laughing. "Java," he chuckled. "He keeps repeating it." The seriousness of their situation, and the silliness that had just happened, washed over him, and the master thief half way doubled over in laughter.

"Sly," Bentley snarled, setting Gabriel into another chair, "will you grow up! Not only do we have to contend with Charlie the Great, and his goons, but let's not forget that Carmelita is pretty pissed too, and _now_ we've probably ticked off Morgan Skye also!"

"Bentley relax, I've called a repairman, and already paid him," Sly said. "Morgan knew what she was getting into, by letting us in, and as for Carmelita --," he was interrupted by Murray.

"Morgan Skye _let_ us in? Sly you kinda pushed us in through the door," he said cautiously.

"True, but I told her why," Sly said. "If she didn't want us here, she would have sent all our buts sailing right out that door."

"Good," Bentley said sarcastically. "Now I feel so much better. So instead of sending out butts out the door, she's probably going to take an axe, and lop them off, and put them on her mantle."

"You've been watching Spongebob Squrepants too much again," Sly chuckled. "Anyway, I know where Carmelita is." He held out a note and showed them what Morgan had written.

_Sly I just came back from the airport, and you will not guess who I saw there, getting on a plane for Australia. Yep, Detective Fox, and her sister Elisa. Must have figured that you took the boys to Australia with you mate. Either that or she heard about the attack on your hideout, and figures that Charlie has them now. I've taken the liberty to buy tickets for each one of you, and if you hurry, you can cut her off, by taking one of my friends express planes._

_See ya, Ringtail._

_Morgan Skye. _

The thief smirked and looked at the clocked. "By my estimation we have around twenty minutes to catch that plane."

"With the kids?" the other two roared.

"If we hurry, we can get the boys to Carmelita, and then get on with our main mission." Sly smiled down at Gabriel, "Of course we'll need those files you took from me."

The boy was still jabbering on about the holy, wonderful glories of coffee and sugar, pulled papers from out of his pants and handed them to the thief. That sight alone made the thief roar with even greater laughter than he had all day long.

"All right troupe, let's pack them up and move them out," he shouted.

"What are you going to do when my sister catches you there, thief," Christian snarled.

Sly's smile grew wider yet and he stroked his chin. "You just let me worry about that, kiddo."

**_And now for some review replies. Gosh I did not really think I'd get so many so quick! Sorry if you didn't like my action and fight scenes, I'm really not too god at those yet. Anyway to answer the reviews! _**

**_Lt. Cooper: Like I told you in the email, gosh I hope I did not freak you out doing that, I've been writing since I was fifteen, Lol, fifteen years ago. I did not start out with fan fiction, tried my hand at Transformer fiction for a club I belonged to, and then did regular fiction until the video game Xenosaga got me back into fanfiction. My inspiration for this story? Kind of different inputs from my niece, whom this story is dedicated to, and who I based Morgan Skye on. Plus Writer's Digest Magazine has an article asking writers to write a family tree for a video game character. I chose Carmelita, and her eight siblings, right up to their family joining Interpol, to present day. Then I thought, what would Sly do, or Carmelita for that matter, if he accidently kidnapped one or two of her younger siblings. I'd be happy to join your C2 but I'm not sure what I would have to do. And I'm only online a few days – if I'm lucky – a month here, then a couple of months after that, and so and so. Hopefully that won't be a problem. Thanks again for the kool comments._**

**_Kaiseronni: I'm glad you like the fiction, but as I told Lt. Cooper, I am not always on line, I don't have connection at my house, have to use a family member's, so, while I wrote chapter three last night and this morning, you will probably have to wait for the next couple of chapters until late September, early weeks of October, but good things are worth waiting for they say  Thanks for the compliments, the comedy made my niece laugh too. _**

**_Heiduska: Well you just read in this chapter how old they are, nine . They are the youngest of Carmelita's group of fourth generations of the Fox family. This chapter also brought you reference to three other children, Two of her older siblings Elisa, Ivan, and Carmelita's little sister, Gracia. At 23, Carmelita is the fourth born to Issac Peter and Maria Carmita Fox. Rest assured you are going to met the whole blasted family by the time this is done! Yep the bad guys tried to hurt the boys, but we saw the end results of that! Of Course, Charlie the Great, and his thugs aren't done yet._**

_**Well I hope that this was fun to read, I enjoyed writing it for you all. I especially hope you all enjoyed Nyoko, as she is one of my favorite villainesses that I have created. And please review, and please look forward to Chapter Four (and the other chapters after that, ;). **_


	4. Sisterly advice and deadly expectations

_**AN: Sorry, I made a mistake with the reply I gave to Heidusaka, Carmelita is actually the fifth born to her father and mother, she has another older sister who is kind of the black sheep in the family, and thus I forgot to add her. Plus I hadn't slept a long time when I was writing chapter three, so I was a big goofy. Anyway, on to chapter four!**_

Carmelita fidgeted nervously in her seat as the plane raced toward Australia. The twenty three year old bit her lips, and tapped her shoulders as she stared off into the distance, her mind racing back to what she could have done differently. It was now three o'clock in the afternoon, and only two more days until momma and father would be back from Vienna. If they knew what had happened, they might end up disowning her like they did with Olivia. Well, actually Olivia had disowned them if the truth was to be known, but still papa had a massive temper, and he was a saint next to momma!

Sitting next to her, Elisa was leaning back, her eyes closed as she listened to her music. How could she be so calm about this? Of course her eyes had betrayed her when Carmelita first told her what hand happened – turning from soft brown to a hard stone colored gray.

Elisa was seven years older than Carmelita, and was in many ways her surrogate mother, when momma went to attend a teacher's conference. True there was Carmen there too, who was older than either of them, the oldest of the whole bunch, but she always had a Rosary in her hands, and her nose in a religious book. It never surprised anyone when she became a nun, and then went on to have her own television series on EWTN. So when momma was away, it always fell on Elisa to be there to establish order.

Her hair was shorter than Carmelita's, ending almost at the back of her skull. Her bangs were long and wispy, but that kind of made her look like a guy sometimes when she sweated. The early afternoon light flickered in her jet black raven hair, and highlighted the sky blue sweater, and tan mini skirt that she was wearing. She was thinner than Carmelita, but at the same time much more muscular, and when she flexed her muscles, mountains turned to mere ant hills in comparison. Her nose was a little longer, and more angular than her sister's, and there were touches of pink that had never turned black when she had grown up.

Carmelita batted her head back and forth and sighed, "How can you be so calm?"

"Anxiety will get you no where," Elisa said, her eyes still closed, which made her sister jump out of her seat a little. Elisa chuckled and opened her eyes, pulling her chair to the sitting position.

"You know I hate it when you do that," her little sister hissed. "Between you and the boys I'm going to have a heart attack."

"Carmelita Montoya, calm down," her sister barked; her accent thick with strong, commanding Spanish. Elisa looked at her sister and snapped her head to look at the roof. "If you hadn't tried to catch Cooper last night, this would not have happened. If you had stopped to look for the boys first, then –," she stopped and sighed.

"The twins had climbed into Cooper's bag while I was still getting ready for bed," Carmelita protested. "He had them after he leapt out of the window. Had I caught him . . .," her voice trailed off.

"Look the ringtail is a jerk, I can understand that, but I don't think he is all that bad of a person," Elisa began.

Carmelita looked at her sister in shock, her mouth wide open. "How can you say that?" she yelped, causing the other patrons of the airplane to turn in their direction. Carmelita swallowed her pride and lowered her voice . . . a little. "He's a thief," she snapped back at her sister.

"And who has he stolen from?" Elisa shot back. Before Carmelita could reply she held up a hand, "Yes I know that stealing is wrong, and that Cooper for the most part only does it for fun, which I don't agree with. But how many times has he stolen from some of the most dangerous thieves, saving hundreds if not thousands of lives because he did so?" Her eyes began to twinkle mischievously. "How many times has he saved, _you_ from danger?"

"That's none of your business," Carmelita barked, snapping her head away from Elisa.

"Oh really?" her sister asked calmly. "It's none of my business that you are my sister and this really 'bad' person has saved you from being killed, more than once? Really Carmelita, I had no idea." The last sentence was thick with irony, and a touch of bitterness.

"I should have done this on my own," Carmelita snarled under her breath, resting her hand on her chin.

Now it was Elisa's turn to snarl. "And you would have gotten your ass kicked from this week all the way to next millennia," she howled. "You have no idea who Charlie the Great is."

"He can't be any worse than Clockwerk, or Neyla," her little sister groaned, playing with a thread of her dark blackish blue hair. The sun hit it at the right angle and many people could see traces of very dark purple in it as well.

"Clockwerk, no," her sister agreed. "But Officer Neyla was a spoiled brat compared to Charlie."

"Oh please," Carmelita shot back, "he's a glorified card shark, nothing more."

"A very strong, shark," her sister snarled, "with very dangerous weapons and a very ambitious attitude." It was happening. Elisa's eyes were changing to very dull stone gray. "You aren't on his case, I am. You haven't seen what he can do, I have." Elisa rose to her feet and looked at her sister.

"Excuse me, lady, but could you please sit down," barked a Doberman Pincher wearing a fine business suit. "You are blocking the movie." He was at least twice her size, and was nearly burst out of his suit because of his stacked muscles.

Elisa stood motionless, and then very slowly turned to face the other passenger. The businessman frowned for a moment, and then yelped a little bit, inching back further and further into his own chair. Elisa slowly edged closer to him until they were nose to nose. She stared at him for a few more minutes, before speaking.

"Do you have a problem with me, talking to my sister?" she said, her voice so low a dog could barely hear it.

"N-no ma'am," he finally managed to squeak out.

"Then I suggest you stay in your seat and shut up, and wait for me to sit back down," she said, her voice calm, polite, but overfilling with ice. The Doberman swallowed hard and nodded his head, looking down once at his pants, which were now stained with a large pool of liquid. Elisa snarled at the sight, which made the Doberman double the fluid output, and rush to the bathroom as soon as her attention was back on her sister.

Before she could speak any further, a flight attendant had the unfortunate duty – or a lost round of rock, paper, scissors with her fellow attendants – to walk up to the woman. She never got a chance to speak, and looked a thousand times more frightened than the businessman. One look from Elisa sent her racing back between the red curtains, her bunny tail quivering. Carmelita wasn't sure, but she could have sworn that the attendant had said something to the effect of she wasn't getting paid enough for this type of situation.

Elisa turned back to her sister, and jabbed the air with her finger. "You have not seen the body bags filled with his victims who stood in the way of his ambitions, I have."

"Okay, I get it," Carmelita snapped. She shuddered at the thought of her brothers being in the hands of such a maniac. Ever since she had heard of a building just a few blocks from the Interpol offices burning down, and investigated it, finding a stash of treasures and a few of Sly and his friends' belongings, she panicked. When a few brave witnesses reported who had done the attacking, she felt a stone in her gut, but now after hearing her sister, it had turned into a damn boulder.

"No you don't," Elisa said, sitting down in her own chair. "I could go on and on about him, but I really think my energy should be used elsewhere."

Carmelita groaned, and decided to look at the files of Charlie and his gang to relax. After five minutes of reading it, she decided she needed something else to relax. Nothing in this report was good, everything she read about this vicious gang was nothing short of a horror story gone terribly, terribly wrong. She felt her sister put a hand on her shoulder and squeeze it.

"Rest, _mi hermana_ _pequeño,_" she said softly. "we'll be there soon."

The plane which was owned by Morgan's friend was definitely the fastest thing Sly had ever been on. He nearly felt the urge to open a window and whoop in delight, but realizing how fast they were going – and how high up – he decided against.

"This is amazing," Bentley squealed with the utmost amount of excitement. "I've never seen this kind of technology on anything that wasn't military." His eyes scanned the inside of the jet; it was triple the size of a 747, perhaps even larger than a Flying Fortress! The colors were bright silver and green, with hard red stripes across the walls. The pilot, a weasel (no really) named Walter Lafleur leaned back and smiled.

It was already an hour after the small group of men left Morgan's apartment, and boarded the plane, and already they were nearly to Australia. Sly had checked the schedule before they boarded and after Bentley confirmed his figures, knew that they should land in Australia just a few minutes before Carmelita did. The raccoon smiled and leaned back against his chair. Did I mention that the chairs were all black, Italian leather?

"So what do you think?" Walter asked, craning his neck to view the group. His voice was a strong Italian, but the weasel had hailed from France. His grin grew wider as he spied Bentley continuing to gawk at all the shiny buttons and gizmos scattered around the plane, and at the twins, who were playing a video game in the back of the aircraft.

"All it needs is a massage chair, and a Jacuzzi and it would be perfect," Sly chuckled.

"Sly," Bentley snapped in aghast, "show some respect!"

"Actually the chair you are sitting in _is _a massage chair, and as to the Jacuzzi, well – unfortunately I could not make it fit the plane's weight limit," Walter cracked.

"This used to belong the United States Air Force, didn't it?" Bentley asked, looking at the defensive capabilities of the jet.

"You're close," Walter said, his eyes twinkling, "actually it's a combination of Russian/Canadian design, back when there was a treat of nuclear war back in the eighties. It was supposed to be the ultimate battle ship, able to slip through radar by cloaking itself using the wind around it.

"How on earth did it do that?" Sly asked, frowning. Of course he could appreciate sneakiness when he saw it; he too had a technique that allowed him to blend in with his environment."

"Never did ask the guy who designed it, when I stole it for Morgan," the weasel chuckled. "I just know that it uses the path of the wind to block its path from radar searches."

"Interesting," Bentley said notching his glasses up his nose. The turtle turned and looked at the two boys, pulling out a large container from the back of the plane. "What are you two up to?" he asked.

The boys stared at him and continued to pull the container out into the center of the plane. With the flip of a lock, the container opened, and inside were dozens, upon dozens of board games.

"Just in case we have little rug rats on board for a long flight," Walter chuckled. The boys pulled out the boards and looked at the interesting games. Christian looked at a box and frowned.

"This one looks like you play it with candy pieces," he said, ripping the box open. Sure enough there was a large board with hundreds of black and white pieces that looked like they belonged in a Reese's Pieces candy bag. Before someone could stop him, he plopped one in his mouth, and chocked on it.

Sly rushed over to the boy and preformed the Heimlich maneuver, the boy spewing out the projectile from his mouth, and it landed right next to Murray's feet. The giant pink hippo screeched like a little girl, and began smashing it with his "Thunder Flop". The plane rattled and rolled, and Walter scowled, turning back to the group.

"What is going on back there?" he bawled.

"I'm trying to squash a cockroach," the hippo cried.

"Murray, Murray, that's not a cockroach," Bentley howled, rushing over to the game piece. He picked it up, and held it to the light. "It's a Go piece," he said, finally determined that it was in fact a piece of the classic, strategic Japanese game.

"Bentley, what do you say you take the boys into the next room with these games and teach them how to play," Sly sighed. His friend looked at him for a moment, and then nodded his head.

The master thief slumped to the ground, and sighed. "This is not going to be as easy as I thought," he groaned. Another moment later, Sly heard his friend scream, and rushed into the room, growling. "For God's sakes, Boys, boys no! Bentley is not a piñata!"

Walter listened for a moment and began howling with laughter. Morgan had said that Sly and his friends were always a quirk to be around, but he had no idea. _Too bad the flight is almost over_. Walter smiled and turned his attention back to the airspace.

If there was one thing that Charlie the Great could not stand, it was incompetence. The large fish paced back and forth in his pool as his guards brought in the good doctor and his ninja assassin. The shark raised his eyebrows and flashed a radiating smile that filled the aquarium with bright white light.

"I take it everything went well?" he asked, his booming Australian accent bounced off the walls, making everyone cringe, with the exception of Nyoko.

"We have the computer you asked for, _Herr Great_," Doctor Goren said with a self satisfied chuckle.

"Oh really now?" the shark said, sailing up to the glass. It really wasn't glass, as Charlie the Great could not stand anything so publian. His aquarium/ pool was made of fine crystal, one that shimmered with multi-colors to match his mood. It also amplified his size mass, and made him look a lot larger than what he really was – and he was already a giant to begin with. "So then where is the chip?"

Dr. Goren frowned and shifted his weight. "Chip, sir?"

Charlie's aquarium shimmered and shifted until the waters behind the crystal were darker than Loch Ness'. "The chip, and the files within it," Charlie said, his voice low and tight.

Nyoko looked at the doctor and narrowed her blue eyes. "He lost them to the Cooper gang," she said.

"Why you treacherous little scamp," the hyena howled. He pulled out a gun at the scorpion and pulled the trigger, hissing as her whip caught him on his wrist. "You bitch," he whimpered.

"ENOUGH," Charlie's voice boomed. The dullness of the waters lifted, and both Nyoko and Dr. Goren could see their boss once again. "Do you not think I didn't anticipate this?" he said, his dead black eyes glowing. His left lip rose into a grim smile and he began pacing back and forth, as if he smelled blood in his water. "However, I would have never believed that my ace lieutenants could ever be beaten by a raccoon, a turtle, an overweight hippo, and two little fox cubs!"

"You knew, Charlie-San?" Nyoko asked, blinking her eyes.

"You don't think I'd send you there if I couldn't see what was going on?" His huge thick dorsal fin slammed into a button, and a television dropped down. Another flick of his tail and it switched on, with the hyena and the scorpion being the main cast members of the show.

"You didn't trust us?" the scorpion asked, her eyes widening.

"You my dear, of course, to an extent, but the good doctor, well," the shark chuckled. "He's never been a true field man."

"So you do blame me," the doctor roared. "This is preposterous, after all the good things that I have done for you."

"I've done just as much, if not more for you, Doctor Goren," the shark snapped, pressing himself against his crystal aquarium. His eyes looked deader than anything the hyena had ever seen, and the cowardly doctor backed up.

"You seem in a pretty good mood for someone who has lost something so valuable, Charlie-san."

"That's because I have another nifty little secret," the shark said, looking back at the screen. The picture switched and then they could see two planes, one a commercial type, and another some kind of military spy plane, both heading for Australia. "Cooper and his gang, and Carmelita and her sister are both heading right to us." His grin widened. "Let's make it a very warm welcome for them."

_**Sorry for the massive lack of comedy in this chapter guys, but I'm kind of tired now, and will be on line a lot sooner than I thought I would. Anyway I will try to bring back the humor in the next chap. **_

_**Kaiseronni: I was house sitting, so I worked all night and morning before I submitted the last chapter, so that's why it was so quick. **_

**_Heiduska: Thanks, I didn't mean to kill you though. Hopefully you were able to breathe with this chap. And you are right, the boys are nuts when they get sugar. Just don't give them soda, Lol. You have an interesting way of writing, I would just like to know, are you Asian or have Asian ancestry by any chance? You don't have to tell me of course, I was just kind of curious, you sound Asian. Oh, and if you like my comedy, perhaps you might want to click on my name, and read some of my other comedies. I have two Final Fantasy stories, and two Xenosaga stories, and a Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi comedy. Just in case you were curious._**

_**Lt. Cooper: Thanks, and I look forward to receiving your invitation. **_

_**Captein Amelia: Kool another of the Sly Cooper top writers likes my work! I'll try not to disappoint.**_

**_Ultimatelife: And yet another rave review! Kool! _**


	5. Bored Board games and tattling brothers

Sly sat down at the game table and watched with a yawn as Bentley explained the rules of Go to the boys, and a still panicked Murray – who insisted that the small black pieces of the game were the shells off of a cockroach. Sly smiled at the hippo and turned away, rubbing his arm, _I've squashed bigger roaches than that before. _

Christian and Gabriel seemed just as bored with the explanations as the master thief did, and their focus was now on a large set of marbles. "Can't we play with those?" Christian asked, jutting a finger at a container of the small glass balls. Bentley sighed agitatedly and looked over to where the boy was pointing.

"I'm sorry boys," he said in his nasally voice, "but once you pick a game, you should really stick with it until you're done."

"But we haven't even begun to play the game, and its already mind-numbing," Christian whined. "Why does it have to have so many rules?"

"I've told you before, it's a strategy game," the turtle groaned, stroking his forehead.

"Well we didn't know that when you pushed us in here, with your mouth all foaming and everything," Gabriel snapped.

The turtle frowned for a moment, and then fixed his glasses so they would stay up his nose. "I wasn't foaming at the mouth," he said indignantly. Over his shoulder he could hear Sly chuckle, and he turned around to face his friend. "What's so funny?"

"You were kind of sweating and drooling a bit, Bentley," he said with a wide grin.

"So I want to teach the kids some culture, is that so wrong?" the turtle snarled.

"A board game is cultural?" the twins asked in unison, their eyebrows rising.

"When it's been around since perhaps in the tenth century, if not earlier, then yes, it's cultural," Bentley smiled smugly and crossed his arms.

"I thought the idea of playing with games was to have fun, not learn," Gabriel muttered.

"Boys you just can't play a game without first appreciating the long, history of said game," the turtle insisted.

"Marbles were played in ancient Egypt, history lesson over," Christian said with his own smile, he nodded to his brother and the two bounced off of their seats, speeding toward the small balls.

"Boys, wait a minute," Bentley screeched, knocking over the table, and sending all of the white and black pieces of Go scrambling everywhere. Numerous black pieces landed near Murray and the still suspicious hippo screamed like a little girl, and nearly leapt out of the plane's roof.

His eyes were wide, and in a total state of alarm, he tore a seat from its hinges, pounding on the black pieces that "seemed" to come after him. Bentley huffed and used his cross bow with a sleep dart to calm his friend, but it only seemed to alarm him all the more, and Bentley started smashing the white pieces as well, his mouth truly foaming, and his pupils small. Sly attempted to restrain him as best he could, but that wasn't too well, as the master thief could not stop laughing long enough to get a good grip on his friend.

Meanwhile the boys had been struggling with the jar of marbles, which for some reason had a child lock on it. Determined to get a chance to enjoy the small glass orbs, the boys fiddled with the jar until they heard a low hiss, and then a whoosh as the lid went sailing across the room, smacking Bentley in the head, as he desperately tried to maintain order, and losing terribly.

"For the love of Einstein and safety guards," he wailed. The turtle hurried over to the cockpit, to try and explain the situation to Walter, hoping he could do something to alleviate the problem, but the weasel only smiled.

"So long as they don't screw up my flying, and cause us to crash, I'm not sure there's much I can do," he said with a chuckle.

Bentley yowled in despair and rushed back into the play room, where Sly was still busily trying to subdue Murray, and where the boys were arguing who had made a critical point in their game of marbles. "That's it," the turtle snarled. "I've had it." He stomped over to the overturned box of Go and swished pieces into their small cups, slamming them back into the box, and then picked up the folding chair and shot Murray with another dart before dropping into a chair.

"There's no need to have a hissy fit," Christian said with a click of his tongue.

Sly let go of Murray and stared at the boy with massive eyes, "What did you just say?" he cackled.

"There's plenty of reason to have a 'hissy' fit," Bentley snapped, interrupting the boy. "You two are totally out of control," he said, verbally slamming the twins. Sly tried to interrupt, but was caught off by his friend. "And you need to act your age," he hissed.

"I think I act perfectly for someone who's twenty three," the raccoon said with an uncertain grin, his fingers massaging his arm.

"You act like you're still a teenager sometimes," the turtle said, his eyes growing heavy.

"Bentley, you're not being very nice," Murray snapped, pulling the darts from his rear end.

"Oh man, we didn't need to see that," Christian gasped. The hippo looked at the two of them and then back at Bentley. "Look, we're all tired, this has been hard on us all, but its almost over, so there's really nothing. . . nothing . . .," The hippo frowned for a moment, and looked at the scientist. "There's something I've been dying to tell you this whole time," he said his voice slurring.

Bentley looked up at his friend, his lids refusing to stay up much longer, "Yeah, what's that?" he snapped. _Why am I so darned sleepy?_

Murray opened his large mouth to say something, raising a finger and then it seemed as if someone hit the pause button for a few seconds. "Night-night," the hippo said, collapsing straight on top of his friend. Sly gasped in shock, and raced over to them, heaving Murray from Bentley, who lay there unconscious.

Sly frowned, his heart pounding, until he found why his smaller friend had been down for the count. Somehow he managed to fire a sleep dart at himself, and now it was lodged right between his shell and his inter leg. He smiled and yanked it loose, covering his two friends, and sat down in another chair.

He stared at the two young boys and smiled, so this was how a normal child played, if you could call being the children of a high ranking Interpol officer, the siblings of two others, and accidentally kidnapped by today's greatest thief normal. When he was still living with his parents, and then his father, he had no true friends, as they moved from one place to the next ever so often, now he knew why – to avoid Clockwerk and his goons from finding them.

He frowned for a moment and stroked his chin, "So how exactly do the two of you know what 'throwing a hissy fit' means anyway?" They stared at him with big doe eyes and looked at each other, the larger of the twins shaking his head back and forth at the other one.

"We just kind of . . . heard it," Christian said, slowly.

"Care to tell me where?" he asked, resting his chin and hands on his cane.

"Somewhere," Gabriel answered quickly.

"Ah so that explains it," Sly said with a chuckle. "Somewhere, I've been there before. One of my best friends, 'No body' and his cousin, 'Not me' both live there."

Christian stared at him for a moment, looking as though he was going to puck, and then looked away. "Um, ringtail?"

"Hmm?" Sly was twirling his cane now, studying the boys.

"What does Lambada mean?" the boy asked hesitantly. Gabriel's head snapped toward his brother and frowned as he spoke.

Sly frowned with a blink, thought. "Well, there's a dance called the Lambada," he said as he thought.

"How does anyone have a dance?" Gabriel asked, forgetting his silence.

"I'm not sure I follow you," Sly said his frown growing.

Gabriel paced back and forth and looked at his brother, "It wasn't Lambada; it was something like Limbado."

Sly's frown was getting longer each time. _Limbado? _"And where did you hear about this?"

"Someplace," they answered in unison.

Sly chuckled again and removed his hat, stroking his hair. "Do you know how to spell it?"

The boys frowned, thought for a moment, and finally Gabriel nodded. "L. i. b. i. d. o."

Sly felt his mouth drop all the way to Australia and he was incapable of blinking. "What! How, when, where did you hear that," he rose to his feet and frowned, "time to fess up boys."

"You don't tell will you?" Gabriel asked, his eyes beginning to tear.

"He's a thief, can you really trust him anyway?" the other twin snapped. "We should have kept our mouths' shut."

"You were the one to say hissy fit," Gabriel snapped.

"Be quiet, Gus," Christian snarled, using his brother's short versioned nickname – for Smiley Gus.

"Boy's enough," Sly snapped. He put his hands on his hips, and tried to best imitate his father's look when he got angry at Sly, the best he could remember. "Where did you hear that?"

They looked at him for the longest amount of time and sighed together, "From Carmelita's diary," they groaned.

"She say's you have a lot of it, and always dreams about you having more," Christian said quickly.

If it was possible for Sly's jaw to be lower than what it already was, then whatever was lower than Australia from where he was; would have been there already. He blinked for a moment, and the burst into hysterical laughter. It was an older sister's worst nightmare come to life, her little brothers had not only ready her private thoughts; they'd just shared them with the guy she was writing about! He dropped to he knees and laughed and laughed until he couldn't breathe.

"So, what does it mean?" they asked.

"I'll tell you when you're older," he wheezed when he could finally speak.

**_Okay chapter five is done. I was supposed to be on in the 4th of September, but now it does not seem likely at 100 that, that's going to happen. Of course it still might, but that is a slim possibility. So if that's the case, you all might just have your hands full of chapters! And of course, if I'm on line on the 4th, I will work hard to try and write a chapter each day until the 8th, so either way it's a win-win situation for you fans._**

_**Speaking of fans, a new review has come in! Um, three times, which I don't know why, but he or she has posted a review nonetheless.**_

_**DivneGuardian: Thank you so much for your comments. I hope that you enjoyed these two chapters at the very least, and thanks for the criticism. **_

_**Its come to my attention, and not from DivinGuardian either, that my Sly fiction has a lot of curse words. What do the rest of you think? Am I using them too much, is it taking away from the story? Let me know what you think.**_

_**Oh, and no, I'm not Australian, DivinGuardian, I'm American with Scottish, Norwegian, and English heritage. Okay on to chapter six.**_


	6. A New Van and Kidnapped Officers

Carmelita stepped off the play, followed by her sister, and looked around at the air port. It looked like any other airport, but she felt a sense of menace in it, as if they were being watched. Her eyes narrowed and she looked at her older sister. "Do you sense anything sister?" she asked Elisa in Spanish.

"Carmelita stop being so anxious," her sister snapped at her. "You'll ruin our hand."

"Our hand at what?" the younger sister said, slipping back into English.

There they were again, those strong, bitter gray eyes. Carmelita shivered and turned her glance away, Elisa smiling. "It looks like we better hail a taxi and get a hotel room, then I can call Roberto and see how Vittoria is doing," she said.

"She's three years old," Carmelita said of her young niece, walking with her sister to get their bags. "How much trouble could she get into?"

"As much as you did when you were younger," Elisa teased, lifting a fifty pound suitcase like it a piece of paper. She smiled and picked up Carmelita's as well, giggling as the business man who had relieved himself out of fright of her struggled with much smaller bags. The Doberman Pincher looked over at her and felt his eyes widen, and glared down at his pants, cursing as they again filled with thick yellow stains.

"Do you have to be such a show off, _hermana mayor?_" Carmelita took her bag and inched closer to Elisa, "I thought you said to keep a low profile."

"I said not to ruin our hand," she whispered back. "You'll find with Charlie there's a difference in those two things." Elisa pulled away and walked to the exit of the airport, flashing her pretty smile at everyone she saw, and greeted them with a fine, thick "G' Day," so heavy it almost seemed she was from the Continent/island/nation, born and raised.

"So what do we do from here?" she asked. The City of Adelaide was amazing, Carmelita had only been here once before but the sights still took her breath away. It had very broad streets, numerous parks, and architectures from different time periods. It had been named for England's King William IV's consort in 1836, and was one of the capital cities in Southern Australia.

It was also nearly five in the evening, and Carmelita yawned. It had been almost one o'clock when they left Paris, and that was two hours ago. Her eyes squinted to the slowly lowering sun, and rubbed her shoulders, nearly yelping in shock as her sister grabbed her wrist.

"No time for jet lag," she snapped. Elisa pushed Carmelita into the taxi, and they rolled off, toward one of the nearest hotels – or so they thought.

The plane slowly lowered to the ground and the boys quickly got off it, looking around. Bentley yawned and scratched his back and looked at his watch, switching it to the new current time with the press of a button.

"This doesn't look like an airport to me," Murray said. That was the understatement of the day, it wasn't an airport, it was an airfield, with only one white building standing in the far distance of the run way.

"Sorry mates," Walter said. "Morgan told me to bring you to her private airfield, so we wouldn't have Charlie's eyes on us."

"What good does that do us," Sly snapped, stroking his arm. The raccoon began to pace back and forth, and narrowed his eyes at the weasel. "We were supposed to head Carmelita off and get the twins to her."

"Calm down mate," the weasel snapped. "I'm only doing what I was told to."

Bentley rushed to his friend and pushed him back, "Sly, look, Carmelita probably wasn't going to Sydney anyway, which means we can still try to catch her before she does anything foolish."

"Good luck," the twins said in unison. Sly smiled for a moment, and then snapped them a look that told them to behave. Neither of them really trusted the thief, but he was an adult, and he could really make things uncomfortable if he wanted to, now that he had heard of their little extracurricular reading.

The raccoon sighed and shook his head. "Okay, okay," he groaned, giving up with a bent head. "Did Morgan at least give us a vehicle or something to travel to the city?"

Walter flashed a smile and began walking toward the hanger. "You boys have no idea," he chuckled.

Now Sly really was whooping it up in celebration. The van wasn't anything like the old get away vehicle that had floated away right after they defeated Jean- Bison, it was better. The vehicle was compact, tiny but on the inside, it was large and massive, bigger than their old headquarters.

"When Morgan goes out, she goes all out," Bentley said looking at all the high tech gizmos. "It'll take me all the rest of the night to figure this all out, Sly."

"That's okay," the thief said, "It's not like we're going to have to use it in an all out battle right off the bat." He leaned back the thick chair and watched the road go by. It wouldn't take them long to get to Adelaide, so there was no need to take a nap, and for some strange reason he really didn't feel like he needed one. His heart was racing, faster and faster as the van went, but it was not because of the speed. He frowned for a moment and then put the whole thing behind him.

_I rarely get sick_. Sly could count on one hand and not use all his fingers to count the times he got ill. The master thief licked his lips and leaned back forward. It was best just to ignore this, and let it pass.

"You don't look too good," Bentley said, edging toward his friend.

"He looks like he's going to throw up," said Christian.

"Oh, maybe he has a tumor," Gabriel added.

"Okay you two, just sit back and relax, and don't touch anything," Sly said with a grin on his face. "Why don't you two relax and try to get some sleep."

"But we aren't tired," they cried. Gabriel frowned and crossed his arms. "You just want to drop us off somewhere, and go after that jewel to sell on the thief net," the boy snapped.

"Don't talk about things you can't understand, sport," Murray said, gently. The boy looked at him and stuck his tongue out at the hippo.

"Sly, how are you going to explain all of this to Detective Fox," Bentley asked, as his best friend rose to his feet, shuffled a little, and dropped to his but on the front seat wiping sweat off his forehead.

Bentley walked over to his friend and studied him. "You sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine," Sly said, rubbing his arm. "Just forget it." The thief turned to the front window and smiled. "Just leave Carmelita too me, after all its not like I actually kidnapped the boys."

"No, but you did actually steal her computer," the turtle said, fixing his glasses.

"And we both know why I did that," the raccoon said. "We can't let Charlie the Great have that much power, he's already a nut job, with that kind of weaponry he'd be a godlike nut case."

The turtle looked to Murray, and lowered his head. "Well, that is true," he said. He sighed and sat in his own seat, taking a break from studying the electronics, and blocked out the twins growing disapproval that there was not one video game in the lot. "But why is it always us?"

"Why is it always us, what?" Sly said, looking at his friend.

"We're supposed to be only thieves, how do we always get met up with these lunatics that plan to whip out or enslave mankind?"

Sly chuckled and tried to rest his arms behind his head, grimacing and pulling his arms away from his head and rested them in his lap. "I guess its just fate, or karma, you believe in the supernatural Bentley," he turned to the boys and frowned as they read some small magazines that Walter had given them.

Both of them were ash green, bent over, with large red veins sticking from their eyes. "Murray, stop the van," Sly screamed.

There was a hiss of brakes and tires, and they all buckled forward, flinging them toward of the front. Too late, brown, thick goo came rushing from the boys mouths, covering the trio of thieves, from head to toe.

Sly sighed and looked at Bentley. "You know how you asked if I was okay before?" The turtle nodded his head, and Sly sighed again. "I may have to change my mind," he said. The raccoon groaned, drumming his fingers as he lay on the floor of the van. "I am sorry tired of getting bodily fluid all over me, or my stuff."

Carmelita and Elisa walked into their hotel room, and set down their bags. Like a flash of lightning, her older sister rushed over to the phone and dialed up her husband, letting him know everything was all right. They talked for over an hour in a half, using kissy kissy sounds, and baby talk, and then went over the events of the flight, and the Doberman pincher peeing on himself. Carmelita could hear her brother-in-law screaming with laughter at that, and the conversation went on. The younger of the two sisters could hardly contain herself from thrusting a finger down her throat as it went on.

"Finally," she snapped, as her sister hung up the phone. "And just who is going to pay for that phone call I would like to know," she hissed.

"Oh get a grip, or get a boyfriend," her sister laughed at her in Spanish.

"Cooper doesn't allow me the time to have either," the younger detective sighed as she sat by her desk, hand resting on cheek, arm resting on desk and looking at herself in the mirror.

Elisa began howling with laughter, and pointed at her, covering her mouth. "Then it looks like you've already got a boyfriend at that," she giggled.

Carmelita shot to her feet and glared at Elisa. "Don't you dare go there!"

Elisa smiled and held up her arms in mock self defense, and then frowned, looking at the door.

"What's wrong?" Carmelita asked.

"Something smells funny," her sister said, turning up her nose and sniffing the air.

Carmelita did the same, and yanked out her shock pistol a second later. The two Interpol officers narrowed their eyes, and inched toward the door, their weapons ready, when it exploded.

Neither one of them saw what happened next, a tail flashed forward, followed by numerous thugs that poured in from all over. They grasped the women, and allowed Nyoko held chloroform clothes over their faces.

"Charlie-san, and Dr. Goren would like to have a word with you two," she cooed. Then there was darkness, except for Nyoko's mocking laughter.

**_Sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to post this story today, and I had a gut feeling that a swift kidnapping would be more traumatic and nail biting than a fight to unconsciousness. Besides there's already been something like that earlier. I don't want to overdo myself so quickly, I'd like to space it._**

**_Heiduska: I'm glad you liked the chapters, hopefully you'll like this one too, and I'm hoping to write and publish another one by tomorrow. Not for sure though. Anyway the boys, especially Christian have a taste for candy now, and still hyped on sugar, the kid thought the Go Piece might actually be a black Reese's Pieces. It's okay, about the language, you did sound like you were Asian, but Finnish works too . I just hope you are disappointed at the short chapter. _**


	7. A computer chip and a torture room

Carmelita woke up to bright lights blasting in her eyes. She groaned and tried to pull her hand over her eyes, to shield them, but growled as the arm protested and flopped to the table it was tied to. The Interpol officer looked at the small white table and gasped, her arms were high over her head, metal cups holding her wrists tight. The raven haired, officer looked down to her ankles and noticed that they too were bound. Her heart began to race, what had happened? How had she ended up like this?

Then it all came back to her, the hotel room, the thugs and that ninja. Her eyes shot open and she strained to look around the bright, white room, her heart rate close to 160. Where was Elisa? The officer strained against her restraints, just as she had done when she was held by the Contessa. Just like then, I had proved useless. There was only two differences, well actually three in this case then the previous one. She was in Charlie's grasp now, and this time so was another person, Elisa. The third difference, and she frowned as she wondered why it was, was that her jacket had been removed, as had her shoes.

"Are you awake, sister?" Elisa's drowsy voice came from somewhere in the room.

"Where are you?" Carmelita strained to look for her sister, her eyes growing wide. Had she'd gone invisible?

"Look to your left," she said, weakly.

Carmelita turned and pushed back, her face screwing up. "All there is there is a wall."

"It may not be see through on your side, but it is on mine, for some reason," her sister gasped. "I can't believe we were captured so easily."

"I still don't know why," Carmelita said, looking down at her stomach. "He has the computer, why would he want to capture us."

"Do you remember what I told you on the plane?" Elisa snapped, her voice growing strong. Carmelita could not see her sister, but she could feel those stone cold eyes turning grayer with the second.

"Yes I know, you work on his case," Carmelita said. "But it does not make much sense, why would he have us kidnapped, and not just wasted."

There was a long, highly charged moment of silence, and Carmelita could hear herself grind her teeth. "Elisa?"

"I'm thinking," she snapped. Another excruciating long pause and then, "He must want something from us that could be the only thing."

Carmelita lowered her head and shook her head, _duh._ "But what could he want from us?"

"Perhaps its Sly he wants," her sister said. "He took your computer remember? What if he took something out that Charlie's thugs could not find?"

Carmelita pressed herself against the table and tried her best to stare into the massively hot bright lights. If Elisa was right, then she had another reason to hate that stupid ringtail. She frowned and sighed, her heart pounding faster than 160 at the thought. _Wasn't he only trying to help people? _She batted the thought from her mind. If that were true, then why not become an officer instead of a thief, it would be much more honorable. _But Sly has honor in his heart._ Again her hair bashed back and forth and she slammed her eyes shut. No, a thief has no honor, only selfish desires; he was only interested in fun than doing the right thing. _Is that why he went to the trouble to get his book away from the Fiendish Five? Why that the reason he stopped the Claw Gang from rebuilding Clockwerk? Was that why he stopped Neyla before she could be come immortal?_ Okay let's stop this, she thought to herself. Sly's not evil, but he's a freak sometimes.

"Carmelita, get out of la-la land," Elisa snapped. "Now look, there's nothing more we can worry about right now, and if we're being listened to, then perhaps we should stop speaking before we reveal too much."

"Elisa, what about the boys, do you think they're okay?" Carmelita could feel her eyes water. She didn't want to think so, but at that moment she felt like a failure as a sister.

"Carmelita Montoya," Elisa snarled, her voice bouncing off the walls. Carmelita turned to the wall to look at her, and her eyes grew even wider. "What's wrong?"

"I can see you now, it looks like they've taken the barrier away," the younger sister said. Sure enough, the white wall was gone, and a plastic sheet was in its place. Elisa was tied to a table, just as Carmelita was and she blinked at her sister. She smiled for a moment, and her gray eyes melted away to adoring brown.

"Are you alright?" Elisa asked her voice tender and motherly.

"Do I look it?" Carmelita asked. Elisa's eyes turned to gray for a second before they heard a hiss of mechanized door and two goons following George Goren entered the room.

The hyena smiled at them for a moment and barked orders at his minions, who rushed to obey the orders. He turned back to them, pulling his gloves to his fingers. "Good evening ladies, I'm sorry for having to bring you in here like this, but we need some information."

"Bite me," Carmelita snapped, pulling at her restraints. "You let us out of here, and put your hands up."

"Carmelita, hush," Elisa growled. Her sister turned to her and looked at the hyena.

"Why should I? He's just a no good scum," her sister said in Spanish.

"Well that's not very nice," Dr. Goren said in perfect Spanish, his tail swishing back and forth. "And here I was trying to make you comfortable during your stay."

Elisa desperately looked at the hyena and turned away, she knew what he was capable of if he was angry. She closed her eyes as the goons entered into her room and placed small electric shock devices on her cuffs and followed the same procedure, although Carmelita managed to bite one of the criminal's fingers. He howled and slapped her across the cheek, before the doctor roared at him to leave the room.

Dr. Goren began to pace back and forth as he looked at his captives. "Now, I'm only going to ask you this once, where is the chip to Ms. Fox's computer, the small green one that belongs to the files on Charlie the Great?"

"What chip?" Carmelita squeaked.

Dr. Goren smiled and shook his head, pushing a button, "That was a wrong answer," he said.

Electric bolts rushed up the girls' bodies, making them howl and leap from the tables as if someone were pushing their backs forward. The hyena chuckled and pressed the button again, and again, three times. Elisa and Carmelita cried in agony and thrashed on their tables, their fingers curling automatically.

"Now I will ask you again, where is the chip?" the doctor asked, turning off the button.

Carmelita gasped and glared at the hyena. "Get bent," she hissed through deep gasps of air. "I don't have any chip, I've never seen any chip, and even if I had one I would not tell you."

Dr. Goren chuckled and pressed the button, both girls shrieking and flopping on the table for another few minutes. "The chip is an important part to Charlie's designs for his weapon," the hyena snapped, his lips curling in rage. "I'd tell you more, but then I would probably be on that table instead of the two of you."

"What does this chip do?" Elisa said, turning her head away from her body, as singed fur and flesh slowly waffled up into her nose.

"Nothing much," the hyena said. He narrowed his eyes and stomped a goose stomping boot to the floor, "but you girls do not need to know what it does, just hand it over, and I'll end your pain." His hand reached over for the button and he stared at them. "The next push of this button will not bring electronic shocks, I promise you that. So make it easy on yourself, talk."

"You need to get out into the real world, and get an honest job, you freak," Carmelita snarled.

Dr. Goren shrugged and pressed the button. Thick heavy whips flung out and began slashing at the young women, leaving heavy welts on their skin and fur. Both of them cried and looked away from the insane hyena as he stared at the torture as if he were watching a movie he hadn't seen in a very, very long time.

"You know I hate this barbarity," the hyena snapped. "And I hate people who force my hand into these things," he said, his voice rising. "So make it easy on yourself and tell me where the blessed chip is!"

"Go to hell," Carmelita screeched. "I'll get you for this; I swear to God I will get you for this."

A small computer screen slowly lowered to the ground, and Charlie the Great's ugly mug appeared. "I thought you could promise me results," he hollered.

"_Her Great,_" the hyena yelped. "I promise you sir that before this night is out, the chip will be in your fins."

"You are too sure of yourself," the shark growled, flashing his bright metal teeth. "So I will give your forty eight hours to give me that chip, or I'll be enjoying roasted hyena under pineapple sauce." He smiled and licked his lips.

The screen rolled up and Dr. Goren glowered at the two officers, his chest rising and falling as he stared at them. He pushed the button and the whips went away. "Okay, we're going to have to speed things up I see," his eyes narrowed and seemed to shine. His hand went to a new button and he smiled. "Like before this button will bring a new torture, one I'm sure neither of you girls would enjoy."

Carmelita lay stiff on the table, small trickles of blood flowing from her body. She turned to her sister and saw that it was the same with her. Her stomach rose and fell as she breathed, and she spat at the doctor.

"You will not get one piece of information from us," Elisa said bluntly.

"Go a head, bring your pain, and we'll keep closing our mouths, creep," Carmelita said.

"Oh but this won't hurt a bit," the hyena said with a smile. He rose and eyebrow and scanned the two captives, "You sure you won't speak?"

"Go suck a lemon," they said in unison.

Dr. Goren giggled with a shrug and pushed the small pink button. "These are an invention of mine," he said, I'm sure they'll leave you in stitches."

Dozens of doors along the walls opened, and legions of tiny mechanical spiders darted out, climbing the tables. The two sisters looked at each other and frowned, what the heck was this? Robot bugs? What in the world?

Then it started. Some of the spiders crawled up to Carmelita's ears and slowly stroked the outer edges of her ears. The officer squealed, her eyes growing wide, and she jerked forward. "Don't do that!" she howled at the robots.

"Like they'll listen to you," Dr. Goren chuckled.

The robots were all over her, stroking her ears, around the edges of her nose, everywhere she was ticklish, they found and exploited. She wiggled and fought the urge to laugh, until the robotic spiders descended to her stomach, and wiggled their clawed legs. She could no longer hold it in, and surrendered with screams of laughter, turning her eyes to her sister.

If the robots were all over her, they were making a playful "feast" of her sister. Elisa was the most ticklish of all of the children, nearly ticklish just about everywhere. Her worst spots were invisible to be scene, as the robots attacked her ankles, feet and slipping their feathered legs in and out of her navel.

"Oh my Gawd," Elisa squealed, "please, please stop!" She flopped to the table in another bout of laughter and laid perfectly still, her eyes growing the size of basket balls as the bugs continued their jobs.

"We don't know anything about the chip," Carmelita laughed as two robots poked her sides. "Get over it, we don't have it, no not my knees," she said interrupted by the robots, "and – and we don't know where it's at."

"Then I'm afraid you're going to end up laughing to death," the doctor cackled.

"Its impossible to be tickled to death," Carmelita chuckled, catching a robot trying to tickle her nose, and biting it in half, ignoring the acid tasting oil slipping down her throat. "We'd pass out first." Now she knew why their extra clothes had been removed, the sick freak had this planned the whole time. Unknown to him, she wasn't ticklish under her arms, so mentally she wished that he had let her keep it, the air in the torture room was very cold.

Doctor Goren smiled and pushed the pink button again. Both young women screamed louder, thrashing on the tables as the tickling sensation increased. "Just give me the answer I want, and you can both go," he said with a smile.

He watched the torture for an hour, and narrowed his eyes, both women coming up very short of breath, and only slightly giggling now, as unconsciousness was slowly creeping up on them. Goren paced back and forth as if he smelled blood and screamed at them. "Tell … me … where … the … chip … is!"

His hand reached for the pink button a third time and he yelped as a clawed hand reached out and nearly crushed his bones. He turned to face the ninja, and narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing, Nyoko?"

She narrowed her own eyes, picked up the pink button, and smashed, ending the officers' tickle torture. Then she gave the man doctor a round house kick and sent him flying into the wall.

Slowly she walked over to the torture room and narrowed her eyes. "It's my turn now," she said. "And I give you my word, what I have planned wont tickle."

Well another short chapter, sorry, but at least its longer than the last one. Anyway, see Heiduska, your not the only one I make laugh :).


	8. Poisoned thieves and frightened children

It was nearly the night when the arrived at the small little coastal curve, lighted up above water and below with dim green and blues and purples. The smell of salt water flew up from the cliff that Sly and the others were glaring down, and calmed them, well all of them except for Bentley, who was allergic to salt, and to the boys who were both worried about their sisters, and Sly, who was starting to sweat, and whose eyes were widening, which meant that the only one who was relaxed was Murray.

Sly's chest rose and fell heavily as he stared down at the heavily fortified water castle. Just three hours ago he and the boys had heard about Nyoko's kidnapping of the officers, and disappearing into nothing. It had taken a lot of shake downs to get the location to the headquarters of the dangerous shark, but they had gotten it, and now here they were.

"What the hell do they want with them?" Sly roared.

"Sly keep your voice down," Bentley snapped in a whispered tone. "We'll be spotted."

"Good, bring them all on," Murray said, punching his fist into the palm of his hand and cracking his knuckles. Sly swirled to face him and scowled, his eyes narrowing. The pink hippo looked at him, with an injured expression and took a few steps away.

"Sly, perhaps we should alert Interpol," Bentley said under his breath.

"What did you say?" the raccoon growled, staring at his friend. The Master thief began rubbing his arm, and licked his lips.

"I also think we should get you to a doctor," the turtle continued, scared but determined to get through to him. "You are obviously not well, you haven't been sleeping, and you can't stop scratching that . . . arm." Bentley frowned and moved closer to take a look at the appendage.

"Back off," Sly hissed, waving his cane at the turtle. His eyes grew dangerously large and they could see his chest rise and fall of the beating of his heart. He took a couple of gasps of air and took a step back, his golden brown eyes narrowing with horror. "Bentley?" he asked, as if he were no longer sure who was in front of him.

"Now I know we need to get you to a doctor," the turtle said. "Somehow I think you were poisoned."

The air seemed to grow chilly as they all stood there in absolute silence, tears coming to Sly's eyes. "Bentley, I – I'm sorry," he said. He looked to his cane and nearly dropped it to the ground. "I – I don't kn- know what came over me." His heart slowed down to a low ninety and he swallowed.

"I told you Sly, somehow I think you were poisoned," the turtle said.

"Maybe it was something he ate," Christian suggested.

"No, I think it was something he drank," offered the other twin.

"You can't get all twitchy like that with drinking something bad for you," Christian snapped.

"You sure did after drinking all that coffee," the larger of the twins said.

"So what? Coffee's not poison," the other boy shot back, leaping off of a rock he had been sitting on.

"It can be if you drink enough of it," Gabriel said, throwing a punch into empty air.

"You want some of this?" the smaller of the boys said, clenching his fingers into fists and raising them up in a boxer's motion.

"Boys, stop it," Sly said, his voice soft and yet paternal.

"He started it," the both cried in unison.

"I don't care who started it," the raccoon snapped. "I just want it ended." His tone was getting edgier and his fingers started twirling his cane yet again.

The boys looked at him and narrowed their own eyes. "Why should we do what a thief tells us to anyway?" Gabriel asked.

"Gus, I'm not in the mood," Sly said, "Now please stop this bickering."

Bentley and Murray watched the scene both trying to figure out the best way to defuse the situation. "Hey guys, why don't we go into the van while Bentley takes a little more reconnaissance photos," the hippo suggested, putting a hand on Christian's shoulder. "We can watch a video or something."

The boys looked up at him and started to smile, of the three of the thieves, they had taken an interest in Murray the most. The situation seemed finished, but the Murray's words seemed to only agitate Sly.

"I'm sick of keeping Carmelita waiting in danger while we take damn reconnaissance pictures," Sly screamed. His voice echoed through the air, and the group held their breaths as guards looked upward, and then shrugged and returned to their naps.

"Sly, without being able to examine you, I don't know what kind of poison is in your system," Bentley said.

"Shut your mouth you dweeby half shell," the raccoon said. His eyes stared at Bentley with demonic hate, and then turned their fury on the boys.

"And you two, I've had enough of your scrabbling. I've had enough of you puking and shitting on my things, and making my life a living hell. I've only known the two of you for just a little under twenty hours and I'm hoping to never see you two ever again," each words was more ferocious and hateful then the next, and his eyes were nearly out of their sockets with rage.

"Sly stop --," Bentley shouted. Luckily he had shot the guards with an extra dose of sleep venom, to keep them in their relaxed state, but if any other guards were out on patrol . . . he didn't want to think about it. He hadn't seen a friend this angry since they turned on the mind control devices in the Contessa's prison to free Murray.

The raccoon ignored him and kept ranting at the boys. "Why don't you just get out of here, and let me live my life," he screeched, tossing his cane at them. The boys shrieked, and Gabriel rushed off into the darkness, as Christian ducked.

"Sly what have you done?" Murray gasped. He tried to chase the little boy, but it was far too dark, and the nine year old was far faster than the hippo.

Sly reached for his cane, and lifted high over his head, a demented smile across his face as he glared down at the remaining twin, but stopped as a sharp poke jabbed him in his arm, and darkness enveloped him.

When he woke up, minutes after passing out, he blinked and held his hands to his head. "What happened?" Bentley explained that he had rushed to the van and got his first aid kit, using a needle and the strongest anti-venom that wouldn't kill the raccoon that he had, and plunged it into his arm.

"As I said, without knowing what kind of poison is in your system, or even how it got there, it won't last for long."

"Thanks buddy," Sly said, rising to his feet wearily.

"Wait, Sly where are you going?"

The Master thief turned to the turtle and frowned. "I'm going after Gabriel, it's my fault that he ran off. I- I can't rescue Carmelita and her sister, and tell them that I let their baby brother run off into the Australian desert at night."

"But you could agitate the poison," the turtle said, his voice hushed. Murray had driven them a few miles south of the headquarter, where the boy had ran, but they couldn't find him, now the hippo, and the remaining twin were fast asleep.

"Then give me some of the anti-venom, and I'll use it if I need to," he said, his voice strong and determined. "Bentley I can't leave that child in the wilderness, I will not." He looked down at his feet and back at his friend. "Just tell me how to use it, and give me enough, and I'll be off."

"We'll find him together," the turtle insisted. "In the morning."

Sly shook his head. "It could be too late by then, I have to go now."

"But you can't even see at night," he protested.

"With our interred goggles I can," the thief said, packing them in a backpack. He looked at the turtle and shook his head. "Bentley, Carmelita means more to mean than the world, more than my thieving ways, and so do those, they're my responsibility."

Bentley bit his lip and gave a stubborn shake of the head. "No, we're all partners, you, Murray, and me. So that means the boys are _our _responsibility."

Sly chuckled and cocked his head. "That's right, but one of them is till here in the van, asleep. You and Murray have to stay with him and make sure nothing bad happens to him."

Bentley bit his lip again, and handed over the anti-venom, explaining how to use it. "You're sure you want to do this?"

"I may not know what poisoned me, or what it will end up doing to me, but as to getting Gabriel back," he nodded. "I have to." And like that, the heroic Sly Cooper was back in action, and leapt off into the darkness.

_**Okay, another short chappie, but this will be the last of them for a while, as this is my last day here at my sister's house. I don't know how many chapters I'll update next time I'm on line, but look for them around late October, more likely closer to sometime in November. **_

_**Okay, on to reviewer responses. By now you know that Sly has been poisoned, but by how, I'm not telling. If you're an avid reader and examine the story to this point however, you should figure it out, though I mean no disrespect to any of my fans. Fell free to post your answer in a review. I won't tell you if your right or not until the grand unveiling, but it should be fun to see how many of you have paid close attention.**_

_**As to the tickling, well Bentley tickle torture the Contessa's general in Sly Cooper 2, so there's nothing weird there. I thought it would be fun to tickle Carmelita so I had her tickled, that's all there was to that.**_

_**DivineGuardian: By the way are you a girl or a guy? No I did not intend for Goren to be like Dr. Menegle (history buff I see, Lol). But they could be cousins of some what, I just didn't think of that. Thanks for the idea.**_

_**Kaiseronni: Thanks for the praise for my use of words. Did you mean that the tickle torture was the funniest thing you had ever read?**_

_**Shark: Nice to see a new face, and thanks for the comments. Yeah, they could tell that they were telling the truth, they just didn't give a damn. At Least Goren didn't, that's why Nyoko stepped in, what does everyone think of her by the way?**_

_**Heidsuka: To the number one fan of this story, thank you for all your lovely comments. Blushes I'm so happy that I'm making everyone else so happy!**_

_**Okay, I think that's it. If I've forgotten anyone, please forgive me. I have way too many reviews on my computer to scan through LOL. Anyway, you're going to be meeting Carmelita's parents some time in the next three chaps, as well as the return of Morgan Skye! (Seriously guys, let me know what you think of her too, along with Nyoko). Well its been fun, by for now, and see ya all in either October or November!**_


	9. Runaway and Unlocking the Door

**_Ziggy's Corner: Okay the first thing I want to do before I start this chapter is to apologize to demonthief for not acknowledging his or her review, somehow your review got lost in the mail, and I never received it, so my deepest apologies. It was not until I looked at my review page off line today (10-8-05) that I saw you. Well that being said, on to chapter nine. And as I promised, it is indeed longer than the last couple of chapters. And now without adieu on with the story._**

It was seven o'clock in the morning now, and Bentley could only manage two hours of sleep, his heart racing for his friend and the small child he had gone off to rescue. Different kinds of scenarios ran through his mind, how Sly could get hurt, or worse, hurt Gabriel, because the anti-venom had run its course, and this strange poison had retaken its effect. He sat down, jumped up, sat back down again, and then lay in his bed for another half hour before getting back up. _This is pointless._

The turtle sat on his bum yet again and looked at his radio. _Why hasn't he called yet?_ He stroked his chin, and reached for another cup of coffee, his sixteenth in fact and looked fiercely at the mechanical device for what seemed like ages, finishing his cup and pouring the seventeenth. _Well at least I know there's no real mystery as to why I can't sleep. _It was eight o'clock now and the turtle had had enough. He reached over for the radio and turned the dials carefully. "Attention Sly, Sly can you read me?"

There was static, and metallic whining on the other side and the turtle groaned and switched a few knobs to adjust the sound. "Sly, if you can hear me, what is the situation?" His words were scrambled, and sentences were coming from his mouth as if they were one word. Bentley began jerking his left leg and he scratched his bald head as he waited, narrowing his eyes. _Damn I know its natural, but I really wish nature, or God or whatever is in charge of evolution or creation or yada-yada would have seen fit to give turtles full heads of hair._ It was in times like that that the turtle wished he was not so agnostic. Sly's family had a full range of religious beliefs, while Murray's had been fully Calvanistic in their thoughts, almost to the point of Puritanical. As to what his family's beliefs had been, as much as he tried he could only find a few of his ancestors, and they had all been Jewish, with a Greek Orthodox here and there. The turtle frowned, and then shrugged. _Jewish, eh, well nothing wrong with that at all, actually something I find to be proud of._

He waited for a few more minutes and then switched a few more knobs until he could barely make out his best friend's voice. "Bentley … found Gab… but … they got away." As the turtle strained to hear his friend, he was certain that it sounded like his friend was in extreme pain.

"Sly, you're breaking up, what did you say?"

"… Kidna… ambushed us …," there were more sounds of groans, and Sly's heavy breathing could be heard all over the vehicle. "Almost out of anti-venom, whatever got me is really strong, buddy."

Bentley felt icy fear run through his body and at the same time, jubilation that he had the reception was returning. "Sly, thank goodness the reception is clearer! What were you saying about Gabriel?"

Sly groaned and hissed, apparently using more anti-venom. "There was an ambush," he said sleepily.

"Sly how much of that anti-venom have you used?" Bentley's frown reached a record breaking deepness in frown level. He had said that he had no idea how long the first injection would last, but he had also given the raccoon enough anti-venom for twenty four hours. Was the poison rushing through his friend's veins that powerful?

"I lost count," the thief said over the radio, his voice obviously giving hint that Sly was going off into Slumber land.

"Sly," Bentley said, his voice cracking, the turtle trying to control the level of panic in it, "it's very important that you stay awake Sly. With it being day now, and you somewhere in the Australian desert, the last thing you want to do is fall asleep."

"I read you loud and clear buddy," Sly groaned, straining to apparently rise to his feet.

"I know its tempting to use the anti-venom, but please don't do it anymore unless you feel it's an absolute necessity," the turtle lectured. "If it's not working as long as we'd hoped for, then you're only doing more harm than good by putting it in your system. Now about Gabriel . . .,"

"Ow, my head," Sly said interrupting him. "Bentley, I almost had him an hour ago, but then I lost him, the toxin was too strong, and I needed to use the anti-venom. Is Christian still okay?"

"Yes, he's asleep," Bentley said, his leg shaking as if he were a dog getting his ear scratched. The turtle groaned and grabbed on to it, hoping to hold it steady, but it was shaking so much that it was taking his hand and arm for a joyride.

"Okay, then I'll radio in once I have Gabriel and we'll reunite and decide what to do from there."

"Sly there is one more thing I have to tell you before we sign off," Bentley said, gnashing his teeth together.

"Alright," the master thief said, ready for the information.

"Just remember, that if you come across any native Australians the proper thing to do when you first met them is this," at that moment Bentley's eyes widened to the size of saucers and his hands immediately reached for his lower regions. He tried to stop the words from coming from his mouth, but it was a losing battle, "I'm going to piss my pants with the mighty waters of Niagara Falls!" With that he rose from his chair and rushed off to the bathroom, wailing as he went, nearly bowling over Murray.

The hippo looked at him go and scratched his head, looking at the sounds of Sly laughing at the radio. "Sly? What's going on?"

As soon as he was able to stop laughing long enough his friend told him what was up. "Bentley was at the coffee all morning again, wasn't he?" he wheezed.

"Looks like it," the hippo acknowledged, glaring down at the dozens of the cups lying by the chair.

"I can only imagine what some Aborigine chief might do if I shouted that out at him," the raccoon chuckled. "I kind of wish he hadn't said it though, it hurts to laugh."

"You just take it easy and come back if you have to, Sly," Murray said. "Until then, Bentley and I will hold down the fort." They said their good byes and the hippo cleaned up the cups, putting them in the sink and headed back to the back of the van, when he spied Christian looking up at the bathroom door, with a puzzled look on his face.

"You know, if you really have to go, there are a few bushes outside," Murray said with a smile.

"It's not so much that, I was just wondering who the turtle is in there with?" the boy asked, pointing at the door.

Murray listened at the door and gasped as he could hear Bentley moan in complete bliss, urging something to keep going. Of course he knew exactly what that something was, but the child, who apparently was not as innocent as he appeared to be, thought it meant something else. "He's just really happy to be using the toilet," the hippo said. "That's all, there's no one else in there with him."

Christian frowned for a second and shrugged, "I guess he really likes the toilet then," the boy said. "I've already used the bathroom outside, and I just wanted to see if my brother was back yet."

Murray sighed and shook his head. "Soon though, Sly's almost caught up to him."

"That filthy thief," the boy shot, his fist waving in the air. "It's his entire fault that this happened."

"Now don't talk like that about Sly," the tall pink mammal snapped. Let's not forget who it was that snuck in Sly's bag in the first place."

"But let's also not forget that it was Cooper who broke into my sister's house and took her computer," the boy growled, pushing past Murray.

"Yeah, but if he didn't we wouldn't have been able to stop a very dangerous criminal," Murray retorted.

"Yeah, you guys have done a wonderful job so far," Christian roared. The boy turned to face the large thief and stomped a foot to the ground, "If you're not going to do anything to save my sisters, then _I_ will." He turned and rushed out of the van, disappearing around the edge of it as the hippo raced out to catch up.

The large thief; doubled over in as he rested his hand on the van and licked his lips, trying his hardest to catch his breath. There was no sign of the boy, though he knew that the boy couldn't possibly have gotten to far from the van. He rushed back into the van and pounded on the bathroom door.

"Uh, Bentley, we have a situation here."

"I can not believe that you let him get away," the turtle snapped at his larger friend. "What were you thinking?"

"Well maybe he might not have gotten away if someone hadn't been drinking so much coffee, and using the bathroom like it was his midnight lover," Murray growled smacking the turtle in the head.

"Fine, fine, whatever, but we've got to find Christian and get back to the van as soon as possible, before Sly gets back."

Murray scowled and looked at his friend. "Why did we decide to leave the van and walk on foot anyway?"

"If Sly comes back and the van is gone, then what?" He smiled and nodded his head. "With the venom in his system we can't have him gallivanting all over Australia can we?"

"I suppose not, but what happens if someone who's not supposed to, finds the van?"

"Morgan Skye was nice enough to allow me the option of creating a code word that would open the van up, once I locked it, I told Sly when you were taking a shower yesterday."

"And if Sly is in a deluded state because of the poison?" the hippo asked with a frown.

Bentley sighed and shook his head. "I can't think of everything, Murray, I'm a super genius not a god of intellect."

"Maybe it would be better if only one of us went after Christian," the hippo said, stopping in his tracks. "That way one of us would be there for Sly, especially if he is acting all loopy, I wouldn't know how to heal him."

Bentley looked at his friend and tapped his chin. "That is true, I guess," he said.

"And we'll need more surveillance of Charlie's operations if we're going to get in there and save Carmelita and her sister and stop that psycho shark."

Again Bentley nodded with a sigh. "That is true," he said half heartedly. "How did you manage to get so smart in these decisions," he asked with a smile.

Murray chuckled and slapped his friend's back. "I had a good teacher in that department."

Bentley blushed and laughed, handing his friend another hand held communicator. Then he watched the hippo walk off in the distance and turned back to the van, his heart sinking with each step. It was the second time they had all been separated, and truth be told he did not like it one bit.

Murray rushed forward, wiping sweat from his brow as he continued on. He wasn't deep in the outback, but it was still hard to move forward all the same, this whole country was surrounded by water, which made it nearly, perhaps not all, but mostly nearly all humid. _Now would be a good time for me to go on a diet. _The hippo lumbered on, huffing and pouring water down his throat as he called out to the boy. From time to time he stopped as he heard shuffling feet and prayed to God that it was not him, there would be no energy in his body for a chase. Then again if it was a predator, or a thug, or something else more dangerous he didn't have that much energy for a fight either.

He pressed forward, resting against a rock, or a tree swallowing whole, a couple of Aussie bites mixed with Veggie-mite that they had been given by Walter before they went their separate ways. Murray hurried on, walking for over two hours, before he caught sight of the boy's foot prints. He shook his head and groaned, the kid was faster than he had actually thought.

Thirty minutes later, he caught up to the boy, but he wasn't alone. There were six thugs surrounding him, pushing him into a jeep and keeping their eyes out for intruders who couldn't keep their noses in their own business. Intruder's like Murray.

"Hold it," he called out, mustering his energy into a full sprint and rushing toward them.

One of the thugs, a nasty looking jackal (well all of them were jackals, but this dude was nastier than the rest) turned and aimed his AK-47 at the hippo, firing without asking questions. Murray leapt over the bullets, flipping over some rocks and gasped. "We can do this the easy way if you want, just hand over the boy and I'll let you guys go."

Another jackal pulled out a rocket launcher, and aimed it at the rocks where Murray was hiding. "Murray, look out," Christian cried. One of the thugs snarled and smacked him across his face. The boy whimpered and leaned back against his chair.

"Okay, if that's the way you want to play it, then I'll have to show you villains the true power of the Murray," he growled. The hippo slammed his fists together, sparking a flame that covered both gloves, and hauled himself over the rocks. With the speed of a cheetah, the large thief rushed at the fiends, slamming his fire fists into their bodies, tossing another in the direction of the rocket launcher criminal, knocking both out. The hippo bashed his fist to the ground and caught the rocket launcher as it flew into the air, firing the missile into the distance, and then used it as a sling as he pounded the thugs silly.

It was over before any of them knew what had happened. "It should teach you all a lesson in trying to be a bully to a child," he said with a raised lip. "Now get out of here before the Murray decides to be less than merciful than he is." Those kidnappers who could stand pulled themselves up and shook their heads in shock, rushing off into nothing.

"And as for you young man," he said, turning to the boy. His eye brows arched down angrily for a few seconds and then he shrugged. "Well, at least you weren't hurt too badly."

"I just wanted to help my sisters, and my brother," Christian said. "You don't know how much trouble my little brother can get into without me by his side," the shorter of the twins said.

Murray blinked and shook his head. "Little brother? But I thought that," he stammered.

"That I was the younger of the twins, because of my size," the boy said, his eyes shimmering with frustration. "Everyone who doesn't know us very well thinks that."

"I see," the hippo said. He looked at the jeep and sighed, "Well, I don't think they'll need this for a while, I can drive us back to the van with this."

As they drove back, he turned to the boy. "So what were they, did they tell you?"

"I thought they were poachers at first," the boy said.

"They certainly seemed like that," the hippo said with a nod of his head. "They certainly were weak enough."

"But then they said something about me having some kind of computer chip, and how much money they were going to make at the market."

Murray's ears perked up for a moment and he squinted thoughtfully. A computer chip? Why would common thieves think a boy they met in the wild Australian country had such a thing? He scanned the boy, he didn't look like he had money, and most people did not know of the Fox family around this area. So then did that present the possibility of that these thugs belonged to Charlie's gang? And if so why would they take a computer chip to market, and not him, unless _he_ was the market, and they were speaking in code. But then why speak in code . . . ? Murray groaned and clutched his head with a hand as he drove, thinking this much was not his forte.

"All I would like you girls to do is open your minds to me," the scorpion said, her smile never leaving her face since she took over the interrogation hours ago. The two fox sisters grimaced in pain, still tied to their boards, eyes shut. "We've been over this for hours now, and while I have a massive patience level, I'm no saint, in case you couldn't tell."

Her bright blue eyes shone down on them, large and slanted as she stared down at them. "Really its not that hard, I thought you'd appreciate this much more than Goren-san's tickle bots." She chuckled and held their jaws in her hands. "To be perfectly honest, as an arachnid I'm as ticklish as they come, much like the Contessa. I know what it's like to be tickled for too long, although I have to say, I could have handled at least four more hours than you girls did."

"You're sick, Nyoko," Carmelita snapped. "It's called masochism, get some help."

"Actually I think she's more sadomasochistic," her sister said, straining under the pressure of Nyoko's clawed hand on her chin.

"Ah yes, psychology, you know the Contessa tried that with me, and found it wasn't much to her liking by the time I was done with her." She smiled and released their chins, pressing a button so a neck clamp held their heads up straight. "Other than Cooper-san, I was the only inmate to withstand her mind games." She began pacing back and forth, her whip and long tail thrashing in the air.

"How very nice for you," Carmelita said. "I'm sure that you have a very interesting story, too bad we won't be around to hear it all."

"I never said I was going to tell you all my dark, tasty little secrets," the ninja said. She giggled and walked up to the officer, "And I never said I wanted to hear all of yours. Just a few tidbits will be enough."

"I'll say this one last time, eight legs, we don't know anything about any computer chips," Carmelita growled.

"Oh, but your sister does," she said, looking at Elisa. "True, she probably doesn't know where they are, but once I find out what they look like, I can scan your mind, and see what you might have done with them."

Carmelita frowned and looked at her sister and tried to cock her head. Elisa glared at her little sister for a split second and shrugged, but there was something very guilty in those eyes. "You know, didn't you?"

"I know what they're up to, but I don't know about the computer chips," she said.

"How could you?" Carmelita wailed, trying desperately to break free to strangle her older sibling. "You put us all in trouble, and worse, you didn't even trust me enough to know what was going on. Elisa, you gave me those files, knowing that some kind of computer chip was what Charlie the Great wanted."

"Calm down Carmelita," her sister howled. "You're letting Nyoko get to you. You read the files; you know what she can do to a person's mind. She can woo a man and make him do unspeakable things . . .,"

"Or I could turn two sisters against one another, very good detective," Nyoko laughed, clapping her hands. "However my powers can do much more than just than." She walked over to Elisa, her eyes growing wide as she looked at the officer. Try she could, the officer could not control her eyes widening. It was as if the ninja was watching an alien world through Elisa's eyes. An alien world in which she would find the key to a door that would unlock incredible power, and would bring the world to its knees. This was a technique she had perfected over the last five years.

And it had never failed her. Never . . .

**_Okay, this was chapter nine. It's definitely a lot longer than the last couple of chapters, so I kept my promise. I would have written more, but I wasn't quite sure what to write anymore. So I decided to end it right here. By the way, this story is my silver medal winner in FFnet with 29 reviews. The gold medal belongs to my Avatar the Last Airbender romance, A MidWinter's Romance, with 32 reviews, and the bronze belongs to another Avatar romance, Kiss and Tell, with 22 reviews. Interesting, feel free to check them out and review them too if your interested in that show, or just want to know what other kinds of things I write! (With Christmas coming up in the next couple of months if might be nice to see some more reviews for my Avatar story Flames of Hatred, or being the first to review the Avatar story Fire Hunt, hint, hint, ;), Lol. Of course if it takes you away from reviewing this story, then do what your heart tells you, I don't mind)._**

_**That being said time to answer some reviews!**_

**_demonthief: I again apologize for not answering your review, so I will thank you first. Thank you for your Love, you get a cyber cookie of your choice! ._**

**_Kaiseronni: Thank you again for your kind comments. I think its coming along very good too. I guess that's what happens when you write a few brief chapter briefs to let you know where the story is going to take you before starting the story itself. If you think the poison was making him act coo-coo now, wait tell it really takes effect (I can only thank Writer's Digest Book Club's Howdunit series in helping me write about the perfect poison – The book is called Deadly Doses, written by Serita Debrah Stevens, with Anne Klarner for those who want to know). Anyway I thank you for enjoying this story, and your kind comments._**

_**chitorye 12: I have younger brothers, so I know what it's like to get hit in the crotch too. Thank you for the compliments.**_

_**Heiduska: My dear you are very welcome for the kind words (You are a girl, right? Geez I'm doing this a lot, but the name sounds feminine). Sorry for a late update, but it can not be helped. I wish it could but being physically disabled and all, no wheelchair involved, I just live with my folks, and help them with the kids (My idiot biological parents abused me until I was at the state where I am today, now I live with my adoptive parents). Anyway keep thinking about the poison, if you re read the previous chapters, you'll find the answer ;). By the by, because you ARE the number one fan of this story you get a big, massive basket of cyber cookies of your choice!**_

**_Shark: You know he did seem like he needed a priest, didn't he? Oh, and very good guess, but let's see what everyone else thinks, hm? I you get two bags of cyber cookies for such a guess. (No one look at his review now, that's cheating, anyone looking at his guess and then saying the same to get bags of cyber cookies, will find that I poisoned them, so beware! Okay now I sound like the box ghost from Danny Phantom, Lol.)_**

_**Lt. Cooper: I've got to read your story one of these days. Thanks for the compliment, and I'll try and sign up as soon as I'm on line the next time.**_

**_DivineGuardian: Sorry for making you so sad, I'll send you a big bag of cyber cookies to cheer you up. Thanks for the compliment, and I'll see you later (well not see you exactly, more read your reviews, but you get the picture )._**

_**METHEPERSON: Awesome, another new face! Well chapter nine is written and I hope to have at least chapter twelve written by the time I update next. Thanks for the love.**_

_**And that's it, see ya all in chapter ten! **_


	10. Ambushes and CliffHangers

**_Ziggy's Corner: Okay chapter ten opens up just around twenty minutes before Bentley made contact with Sly in the last chapter. So for those of you who feel we're back tracking a little bit, you are correct sirs and madams. Oh and also I've decided on a theme music for Charlie the Great. If you get a chance to listen to the song Tybald's Death, from a certain ballet (I'm not sure which one it is, if some one knows I'd be very appreciative), and listen to the last two minutes, you'll hear it (I could have used the Jaws theme for him, but that was both corny and too cliché for my tastes). Yeah I know, I'm kind of a geek for giving him a theme from a ballet song, but I felt the music just kind of fit him, so there, Lol. Okay that being said, here's the tenth chapter!_**

It was a few hours into his search, and though he was the quickest member of his group, Sly still had a hard time keeping up with the boy. Though he wanted to constantly move, the anti-venom made him tired, and he fell asleep during the night, cursing himself in the morning as the sun rose to meet his weary eyes. He could only think of the hatred he would see in Carmelita's eyes if he told her that he had lost her brother. The raccoon hoisted himself to his feet, pressed another dosage of anti-venom, albeit a smaller dose, into his arm, and rushed forward, his chest aching as his eyes inspected the landscape, in search of the boy.

He called out Gabriel's name, hoping to catch his attention, hoping that nothing had truly happened to the boy. The raccoon flipped and leapt around the landscape, ever ready to grab the boy and drag him away from danger, to be the hero that rectified his villainous behavior.

It wasn't long before he found the boy, and bit his lips, not sure how to approach the child without doing even more damage to the boy's psyche. If he had grabbed the child by his shoulders, and forced him back to the van, then he knew without a doubt the boy would never trust him again.

"Gabriel?" he called; his voice soft and easy. The boy turned and gasped, backing further away from the raccoon, his feet nearly pushing too close to the edge of a cliff. "No, no it's okay," the master thief said, waving his arms about. "I won't hurt you."

"That's what you said in the beginning, and then you tried to attack me," the nine year old said.

"Gab-Gabriel, that wasn't me talking, I've been poisoned, and it affected my mind." Sly shivered and held his arm as he spoke. He could feel the virus pushing its way back through his body, forcing the anti-toxin into a slow but steady retreat. "It made me all coo-coo."

"So why should I go with you?" Gabriel snapped, "How do I know that you are contagious or something?" He took a few steps back; his mind focused on the thief perched on some rocks, and not on the cliff that seemed to be welcoming him to an early death.

"Look kiddo, it's not that kind of poison," Sly said, trying his best to smile, his mind soaring with horror at the thought of what was going to happen in the next few minutes. He edged himself off of the rocks and took an inch further toward the boy.

"I don't think I can trust you," the boy said uneasily.

"Then why don't you take a few steps away from there, and we'll talk," he said, slinking away from Gabriel so as to earn his trust, and get the boy from danger. His ears rose and fell as the wind blew and he scratched them.

"I'm still not sure," the boy said with a frown, placing a finger on his lips. He took numerous steps back, and the sound of cracking dirt falling made the adult thief gasp, causing the boy to edge closer to his doom.

"Gabriel, listen to me, its fine if you don't completely trust me," Sly said, his words coming out in rapid fire sounds, "but you have to come away from there right now!"

"You're not my dad," the boy growled. The little fox stomped a slender paw to the ground and it groaned beneath him.

"Listen kiddo, either get away from that ledge, or I'm going to come and take you away," Sly said, slapping his forehead. _That'd didn't come out right._

The boy got the drift of that statement, both the good and the bad. His eyes moved away from Sly for a split second, and gazed behind him, tripling in size as he saw the gapping valley of death just beneath one foot. He squeaked and froze in place, as if he were staring at a rattlesnake ready to strike should he make just one move.

Sensing the boy's hesitation, Sly rushed into action leaping down at the boy and looked down at his own lower regions, frowning. _You know maybe it's the poison affecting me again, but why am I always going free willy and pant free? _He smiled for a second, _Perhaps that's why Carmelita's always on my tail?_

Shaking those impure thoughts out of his head he swooped down and caught the boy, performing a ninety degree arch cartwheel in the air, landing on his back, holding the boy next to his chest as tightly as he could. Then he released the child and gasped for air, the poison playing mind games on him again. _A pant-less man holding a young boy, ew how ever did I manage to get pulled into Michael Jackson's world?_

"Are you okay, kiddo?" he asked, looking at the young fox cub. The boy looked at him with a worried frown and shuddered. Sly lowered his head and sighed, "I understand," he moaned.

"No, it's not that, it's just that," he averted his face away from the raccoon's gaze and swallowed. "I guess that you can be trusted after all, but does that mean I shouldn't listen to my sister anymore?"

Sly looked at him for a long time and then smiled, "Do you think she would have wanted you to stow away in my bag?"

"Well … no, but," the boy began.

"And what about reading her diary?" the master thief asked, holding laughter at bay.

"If she had found out about that, she would skin Christian and me alive, _if_ we were lucky," he said, a smile coming across his own lips. He remembered one time when the boys were six. They had made a mess in her kitchen trying to make themselves chocolate pudding. When she caught them, not only did they get a lecture, but she handcuffed them to her kitchen chairs, took the pudding that they had made, and forced them to watch her eat it all, mocking them with how good it tasted. Of course the ultimate joke was on her, as they had unknowingly put in laxative in the mixture thinking it was some weird kind of flour or something. Carmelita spent the rest of the day in the bathroom, swearing in at least ten different languages until momma and poppa came to pick them up. She had threatened to skin them then too, but couldn't make it two steps away from the bathroom without having to run howling back for relief.

"So then you already don't listen to her about some things, right?" Sly asked, wondering what had gotten the kid smiling so big about. Well, at least he was in good spirits again.

"I guess that's true," the boy said.

"Then my advise is, listen to her about the very serious stuff, and kind of relax around the not so serious," the raccoon said with a wide smile.

"So then mate, what would you call this, very series, or not so serious?" a new voice asked from behind them. The two of them turned around and saw legions of thugs with armed guns aimed right at them. "You're money, or your lives, you pick, mate," a crocodile said with jaw menacingly grinning.

As they drove along the road, Murray couldn't help but gaze over and spy the boy, sulking in the back of the jeep.

"Oh come on, are you still mad at me?" the hippo said.

"Not so much you, but at me," the kid said. "I wanted to be the hero, I convinced Gabriel to go along with me, and now look at where we are." He sighed and rested his chin on the back of his hands.

"It's not your fault you know," Murray said, not watching where they were going.

"That's not how my father is going to feel," the boy said. "I'll be lucky to see the sun again when I'm ninety if he finds out."

Murray chuckled and looked deeply at the boy, "Don't do the time, if you can't do the time."

The boy looked at the large hippo and rolled his eyes. "Like I need a lecture from a thief about breaking the rules."

"Sure you do," Murray snapped. "What better place would there be than straight from the source?" He looked at the boy's sour face and turned back to the road. "Let me tell you something Christian, being a thief can be fun at times, but it's very dangerous."

"Gee you don't say," the boy grumbled.

"I do say," the hippo continued, "True I have my friends behind me, but sometimes even their not enough to keep trouble away, and sometimes I'm not enough to keep it away from them." He began the long story of their adventures in trying to retake the Clockwerk parts, and how Neyla had nearly gained godhood because of them.

"There are countless villains and bullies always trying to get in our way, or hurt innocent people that we either do or don't know. It drives me crazy sometimes, it's like fate just won't let us alone to do our own thing."

"And this helps me stick to the rules how?" the boy asked.

"Those that stick to the rules are normally blissfully unaware of the true nature of the world around them. Those who break the rules are pushed into one of two directions, forced to confront the darkness around them, like Sly and Bentley and me, or they embrace the dark, and make the world a much more dangerous place."

"And you're telling me that what's best is that I just stick to the rules, and live a nice simple life." Once again Christian rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat. "You're forgetting, I already broke the rules, so did Gabriel."

"Well, you're still young enough, karma may leave you alone for a while," Murray said with a large grin. Then he turned deadly serious, and stopped the jeep as he turned fully around and looked at the small boy. "But if not, then the question remains, which side are you willing to join? Which path will you take?"

"The right one, duh," the boy said, sticking his tongue out at the hippo.

"Christian, you're going to find, that once you enter the road of rule breaking, there are many more paths to travel than just two, like there would be if you obeyed the rules. Some paths may seem right at the time, but will bring nothing but agony to you or your loved ones, while others may seem too dark and dirty to go down, but go down them you should."

The boy frowned and crossed his arms. "Is that the path you and your friends decided to take?"

Murray smiled and chuckled under his breathe. "You could say that," he said. "But it's more like we were forced into it by destiny." He sighed and raised his head to the sky. "But to tell you the truth even if it hadn't, we probably would have gone that way anyway."

"So which path has Carmelita chosen? She hasn't done anything wrong, and yet she's still not 'blissfully unaware' of the true nature of the world."

"True," he said, starting the jeep again and beginning to drive off, "but your family made that choice for her a long time ago, when it decided to step up and battle the darkness. And she cemented that path for herself, when she decided to become an officer of the law."

"You obviously haven't met my sister, Olivia," the boy said. "She's nothing like the rest of my family."

"Actually Sly has a lot of her movies on tapes," Murray began, and then clamped his mouth shut. "I-I mean he's looked at the covers of her movies in video stores, er, wait, I mean . . .," he began stuttering.

"Yeah, him and about a million other horny guys," the boy snapped. "The only good thing about her movies, according to momma, is that their not sex movies." He thought for a moment and shook his head, "Though poppa says they might as well be."

"Well your sister is just another example of what I was talking about, she's seen the darkness, and decided not to let fate interfere with her lifestyle," Murray said.

"So, then Olivia is bad?" the fox asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I wouldn't call her bad, I mean she's not doing anything illegal, or physically hurting anyone, but . . .," he thought and sighed. "You know not everything can be explained so easily."

They continued driving through the Australian wilderness, when Murray suddenly slammed on his breaks. A tall, massively built rhino stood in their way, wearing nothing but a tee shirt and dark black pants. Murray knew who it was instantly, though he hadn't seen this guy for almost ten years. "Christian, stay in the jeep, and keep your head low," he whispered in a low growl.

Murray opened the door and closed it, stomping over to the rhino. "It's been a long time, Alexandr," he said.

The dark red rhino brushed aside some of the hair from his eyes and smiled. "It sure has been Plumpy," he said in a harsh Brooklyn accent. "I never thought I'd ever see you again ever since you and those two little dim wit friends of yours left the orphanage."

Murray growled and clenched his fingers into fists. "You haven't changed a bit, either Alexandr. Still the mean spirited bully that you were when we were kids."

Alexandr snorted and smiled down at the smaller mammal, "Oh things have changed, at least for me anyway." He elbowed the hippo in his stomach and gaffed, "Still can't lay off the burgers, can you?"

"I don't know why you're here Alexandr, or why you're blocking this jeep, but get out of our way, if you know what's good for you."

"Out of _our_ way?" the rhino asked, craning his neck to look behind Murray. "The only one I see here is you."

Murray frowned and turned to look in the jeep, groaning as the spot where Christian had been was no absent, and the door wide open. _Not this again._ He turned around just in time to see Alexandr's large fist strike him right in the jaw, sending him flying into the dirt.

"Just like old times, eh Flabby?" the fiend chuckled as he stalked toward the smaller being. "Of course you don't have that brainiac or the gymnast to help you out this time." He rushed over, the ground shaking at the weight of his feet, and kicked Murray right in the ribs, tossing him end over end. "Come on, you had more fight in you than this when we were kids, don't tell me you've gotten as soft in that department as you have in your gut?"

"Back off," Murray groaned. "I've got a kid to find, and get back to safety." He pulled himself to his feet and slowly raised his fists.

"I do too, and a computer chip to boot, although I doubt the kid will be safe in the big fish's fins," Alexandr cracked his knuckles and rushed forward, skidding to a stop as Murray side stepped him.

"Kid, computer chip, big fish?" He thought for a moment and then shook his head. "You know you're the second one to go after that poor guy for that reason."

"Well who do you think it was who hired the poachers in the first place?" Alexandr laughed, slamming his foot to the ground, causing it to crack a little. "Charlie the Great wants that chip, and for some reason thinks that fox cub has it."

Murray was at full attention now. He wiped his mouth and raised his own fists. "Even if he does, you aren't getting him or it." He flung his own fists, which the rhino dodged easily, his reaction turning to shock as Murray preformed a pin wheel and used a round house kick to the back of his skull. "I've changed myself."

Alexandr picked himself to his feet and chuckled, wiping his own mouth. "Then this should be more fun than I thought it would be."

Christian didn't take long to decide to get out of dodge when the two behemoths faced each other. He hated leaving Murray like that, but the hippo was still a thief, so technically he was still a bad guy, even if he did bad things for the right decisions. And judging at the size of that rhino with the red scruffy hair, he was no match for the larger criminal.

One of the benefits of being small, and being a member of the Fox family was that he was quick, he could make good time in smaller bouts of time than most adults could. He was far behind the fight before it had even started. However that didn't mean he was an immortal. His stomach rumbled and he knelt down to the ground, picking up pieces of grass and small berries that he could find. His mother taught his Boy Scout troupe how to survive in numerous scenarios if they ever got lost – another plus to being a member of the famous Fox clan. But the energy that these small berries and the grass he ate wouldn't give him the go he needed to keep this up forever. There were smaller lizards along the landscape, primitive and unintelligent, he knew that the Aborigines would eat them when they needed food, but he couldn't risk making a fire and being seen, and he had nothing to catch them with.

Something caught his eyes, and he crawled over to the glowing item, shining with yellow light in the dirt and grass. The sun was hot, unbelievably hot, and the boy stared up at the sun high above. It was Autumn in Paris, so that meant it was Spring here, but it since it was early October when he and his brother had snuck into Sly's bag, it meant it was mid Spring here, which meant Summer in this continent was coming. Christian didn't want to be here in the middle of no where during the height of Summer, it was hot enough already. He swallowed, his throat frantic for cool water to pour down his throat, but his curiosity was too strong for him, as was his need to survive.

The boy got up to the small disk and held it in his hand, it was the size of a computer disk, but it was metallic, and hot from the sun. Christian tore a piece of his shirt off and wrapped it around the disk, so he could get a better look at him without burning his hands. It was odd, and it seemed to hum as he touched it, as though it was alive.

Then a shadow hovered over him, and as he looked up, a tall Aborigine looked down at him and smiled. "I believe the spirits were right about their prophesy after all, though there is only but one of you." He seemed gentle and very kind, there was no threat at all about this man, and Christian knew instinctively that he was safe. With that calming thought, the boy slipped into unconsciousness as the old man lifted him off the ground.

Sly turned off his radio and clutched his side. He couldn't believe his bad luck, he had the boy; he _had_ him! Then those stupid poachers attacked and he had to fight those low lives, which gave Gabriel enough time to slip from his view. He should have gone right after him, but the venom drove him mad, and before he knew what he was doing, he slammed a large dosage of the anti-toxin in his blood.

Sly rose to his feet and then dropped; grabbing his stomach as it turned summersaults and went numb on him. Stomach cramps. Either he had laughed too hard at Bentley, hadn't eaten enough, the anti-venom was doing him more harm than good, or the poison had really done a new number on him.

"Good day, Herr Cooper," an irritatingly familiar voice said.

"Great, this is all I need," he moaned. Sly looked up and glared at Dr. Goren.

"You've caught me on an interesting day, Herr Cooper," the hyena snarled. Around him were dozens of jackal henchmen. "On one hand Charlie the Great has relieved me of interrogating your girlfriend, and her sister, but on the other, it turns out he has given me a sweeter challenge."

Poachers, thugs, super villains, "What is this, a nut job marathon?" he groaned, doubling over in pain as a new wave of stomach cramps caused tears to run down his cheeks.

"Well this may not be as fun as I thought," the evil doctor said. "But rewarding enough," he snapped a finger and a few of the jackals dragged a struggling Gabriel forward. Goren smiled. "I doubt the boy has what we're looking for, but this will be sweet enough for Herr Great not to decide to turn me into a chew toy."

"Let him go," whined Sly, holding to his stomach for dear life.

"I have a better idea, Herr Cooper," he snarled. A goose stomping boot hit him in the stomach and Cooper collapsed in blackness. "There, you see, you're tummy hurt, and as a good doctor, I healed it," where the last words he heard for a while.

There was a knock on the door, and Bentley opened the door quickly, hoping it was either Sly, or Murray, or perhaps both, with the boys in hand. It had been over ten hours since the first running away, and he was crazy to see what had happened. But when he opened the door, there was only one individual, at the door, and the only thing that he could think of to say were the words, "Oy vay, you're . . .,".

_**Oh, by the way, sorry for the Michael Jackson joke to any of you who are his most adherent fans, I meant no disrespect.**_

_**Holy crud! Could I put any more cliff hangers in one chapter? So how does the fight turn out between Murray and Alexandr? What's going to happen to Sly and Gabriel? Who was the old man who picked up Christian, and what's with those computer disk? And who was at the van and what was Bentley about to say! Well, I guess you're going to have to come back for chapter eleven and find out. Disappears in a puff of smoke, only to fall off a cliff and hang dangerously over a roaring ocean Oopps.** _


	11. Family Crisis and Dark Clouds

**_Ziggy's Corner: Okay first off hopefully by now none of you are too bored with either this story, or this little announcement part of the chapters, or even with the name of the announcement parts! Most writers at simply write announcement in some way or form, but I kinda like calling it Ziggy's Corner; makes it feel more like mine and original. Well I promised you'd be seeing Carmelita's parents in the next coming three chapters at the end of the eighth chapter, and if I say the words I promise, I keep them (otherwise I have a hard time keeping my word, J Lol, great now that you know my weakness, I can see some of you exploiting it, LOL). So get ready to meet the parents, and yet another sibling in this chapter, enjoy!_**

The phone rang off the hook; occasionally Carmelita's irate voice would pick up and sound off against her quarry, Sly Cooper. Maria Carmita stood listening at the other end, her graying black hair hanging over her eyes as gray as her locks. The woman in her mid fifties listened twice to her daughter and scowled. Finally she decided to hang up, but not without leaving one last message.

"Carmelita Montoya Fox, I don't know what is going on at your apartment, but your brothers are not so much a challenge that you can't pick up that phone and explain yourself to you momma." Her eyes slanted and she bent closer to the black phone box, as if trying to see through it right into her daughter's apartment. "If you are after that damn raccoon again, instead of watching my mijos, then I will hunt you both down and skin the two of you, him for taking you away from the boys, and you for your blasted obsession!" She waited again, her foot tapping methodically as she listened to silence. "Pick up the phone!" she roared. When there was nothing she slammed the receiver on the handle, nearly cracking it.

She wasn't a very big woman, only five feet tall, very conservatively dressed in a bright floral dress, and a large flower resting contentedly in her ear, until she ripped it off and slammed it to the floor of the lobby, ignoring the crowd looking at her as she stomped back to the convention room. Twenty times trying to call her children with no response was long enough. At least it wasn't busy; the boys weren't burning their brains on the computer that was good.

She found her husband, a tall man with thick muscles the size of mountains, and a short gray brown mustache streaking across his upper lip. Both of them had tempers that would set off a whole supply depot of nuclear weapons, but in truth he was the easier going of the two. That did not mean he was a gentle giant, just the opposite.

"Maria, calm down," he began, seeing the rage and worry build in his wife's eyes.

"You calm down," she snapped. "We haven't heard one blessed thing from them since I called two nights ago."

"I'll admit that its not very like Carmelita not to cheek in with us, if we have her baby sitting or otherwise, but I'm sure she has a very good excuse," he said, his voice deep his accent a thick Spanish tone, some said he sounded a lot like Antonio Bat, from the movies Spy Kids, Evita, and Interview with a Vampire, to name a few, he however never caught the resemblance. "But I don't think there's any reason to panic just yet."

"I am way beyond panic Issac," she hissed. Her husband was a good foot in a half taller than her, but like her second child, Elisa, size didn't matter one bit to this woman. "Couldn't you call your superiors and ask if they've put her on a different case, one that would have made her have to hand the boys over to one of the other children?"

Issac Peter Fox laughed and stroked his chin, escorting his wife to a more secluded area of the convention room. His smile grew wider as he remembered the first time he had taken her to a less crowded area of a building, for less serious matters of state when they were first courting. "Darling, have you even tried calling any of the other children? If what you've said is true, then perhaps it would be smarter to just call them then to my superiors." He ran his hands through his hair and leaned back against a wall. "Besides, even if the superiors at Interpol tried to make Carmelita go on another case, I doubt they'd survive her raving rampage."

"It might do her good to go off the case she's been working," his wife snapped. "And I've tried to call Elisa, and Carmen, no one has even seen Carmelita." She stopped and frowned, "To be honest, Elisa wasn't home when I called; Roberto said something about her being whisked away for a job."

Issac raised a finger. "First, what would I have done if I had been told I was off a case I've been working on for years?"

"You would have had a fit," his wife said with a smile, then she waved her hands in front of her body, "but as I see it, you didn't regret listening to your superior's commands when they told you to investigate a crime committed at the house belonging to one of France's first female lawyers." Her eyes twinkled, "How did you say it the first time? 'I seem to have been given an early Christmas gift for my work?' the first time you laid eyes on me."

Issac chuckled. "Yes, and the first thing that gift did was knock my block off after those words came from my lips." His wife smiled and kissed his lips, and Issac exhaled, his shoulders dropping. "Now, we know that Carmelita is a responsible girl, we only had to discipline her twice as she grew up. So I doubt she's done anything stupid."

"Unless Cooper got in the way," she snapped. She watched her husband's shoulders tighten and she turned away. "She really needs to get off that case, to get a hobby or a man perhaps." There was silence between the two of them for a long time, and then she was shocked to here her husband laugh.

"She seems to have both in one neat little package," he chuckled. His arms flung up in a defensive position immediately as she spun around on her heels, her eyes gray as stone. "You know what I meant. I would not be very happy to see her end up with the raccoon, but these days more and more species entering into inter-relationships and marriage," before she could say another word he rose his finger and shook it, "let me finish. She could do a lot worse than Sly Cooper, and we both know it, or did you forget Brax Barrington?" Both of them shuddered at the name of the wealthy, racist, sexist Fox aristocrat who had his eyes on Carmelita all the way from junior high to graduation.

"Don't bring up that asshole," she growled under her breath.

"But he's a law abiding asshole who also happens to be a fox," her husband said with a twinkle in his eye.

"An asshole by any other name is still a sexist asshole," she hissed. "And I don't care if my daughter ends up with someone outside her species, so long as he's not a criminal."

"I agree, but Cooper is a special case," her husband said. "Not a true criminal in the sense of the word. Still, it's a good thing your mother is not here, she'd keel over just about us talking about her little granddaughter marrying outside the species. Hell she could barely handle the fact that her daughter was marrying a Spaniard instead of a Frenchman."

"_Ma Mère_ would have to get a grip with that," she said. "But let's not forget, even she couldn't stand that asshole, Barrington."

Issac silently laughed to himself. His mother-in-law, Judith Sara Fennex-Alopex, had said something more than just asshole about Barrington, but what was said shouldn't be repeated in polite society. Leave it to say that the seventeen year old heir to an oil company was tossed out of Judith's house by the woman herself, who was then eighty-six years old, by the scruff of his neck and landed ten feet from the door! Judith's husband, Maria's father, and Issac's father-in-law, Eduado Estaban Fennec – and Issac still shared a good laugh about that to this day. _Gee I wonder whose temper Maria inherited? Or for that matter Elisa or Carmelita?_

"My darling, if it would make you feel better, then I'll see if anyone at the office knows about Carmelita or the boys. In fact, Miguel has the week off from the police academy, so I'll contact him and ask for his help. I'm sure there will be no problem with convincing him to cheek out his favorite big sister."

"I'm not sure I like having another of my children running around where I don't know where they are," she started thoughtfully.

"The boy is nineteen years old, Maria, he can look after himself."

"And Carmelita is twenty three, and look how that's turning out," she countered. Her husband frowned and rose and eyebrow and she sighed. "Fine, if you think he can help, then by all means, I just want to know my babies are fine."

Issac smiled and kissed his wife for a long time, running his hands over her back. Finally she pushed him away and shook her head. "You should get a move on," she giggled. "Or were you looking to make baby number ten?"

He laughed and shook his head, "At our age, I think that's the last thing we need now."

"We could always ask your brother Quinton to be their guardian," she teased.

He shuddered, "Quinton, watching our children. One scary thought at a time, _por favor_." They laughed, and kissed each other one more time, and then Issac was off, toward their hotel room, and a phone.

"Carmelita is in trouble?" Miguel shot to his feet as if he had just gotten bite by the cat where the sun don't shine.

"I didn't say that," his father snapped on the other line. "Calm down _mijo_. All I said was that your mother and I have not been able to get a hold of her for over twenty-four hours, and no one in the Interpol office has heard from her either."

"So my sister's in trouble," the boy growled. "Missing for twenty-four hours, no one's heard a thing. What else could it be, then that?" Miguel Horatio was his mother's son, a mini-me version of her, and almost an exact copy of his favorite older sister, Carmelita. In fact he looked like a male version of the Interpol officer, and his family and friends were not sure wither to joke about, or be weirded out by it.

"All I need you to do is go to her apartment and see if she's still there, or what's up. Perhaps there was an emergency and the boys are too freaked out to pick up the phone, or perhaps she's left them with someone else."

"So the twins are missing too?" he scowled. "Father this is a crisis, Carmelita wouldn't just abandon them, not even to go after that rat, Sly Cooper," his last two words were filled with such venom that Sly would have died the minute he was injected with them. Miguel's heart pounded, he was the type of big sister, hero worshipping little brother that if Carmelita told someone two plus two was nine, he'd throttle the person who dared to correct her. Why he didn't have a statue and a shrine to "Saint" Carmelita, no one knew, but if he did, Issac was determined to have him committed.

"Son, listen to me, you are not helping matters any," his father said, his tone growing dark and heavy. "Now, just go to Carmelita's apartment, cheek things out, and call me with what you have found." There was a pause. "If you want, stop by Elisa's and see if she's back from her mission, perhaps she can help too."

"So she's gone too? Perfect, two of my sisters and both my little brothers are all missing!" Miguel was pacing back and forth his eyes wide.

"Elisa is on a _mission_," his father barked, his Latin temper now overflowing past the brim. "I don't know if she's back yet, but if she is, contact her and ask for her help. Now please do as I say, before I have to come all the way to Paris and beat some sense into you. Do you understand me now, mijo?" His voice was so high it could be heard all over Miguel's apartment, though only the police academy trainee was there.

"Yes poppa, I understand," the boy said, blowing out air as he tried to relax. "I'll let you know what I find the first thing I can."

"_Muy buen, gracias_." The two said their good byes, and Miguel hung up the phone, grabbing his long tan overcoat as he walked out the door.

Christian opened his eyes and looked around the small mud hut that he was resting in. In his hand was the small yellow disk that the found in the wilderness and it all came back to him. The child shot forward and screeched, and two large hands grabbed his shoulders and squeezed gently.

"It is good to see you awake," the voice said, the same one belonging to the man who had picked him up."

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

"A friend," the man said. He could tell that the boy was trying to make him out, but it was dark in the hut and he walked away. "Let's just leave it at that. I belong to the Tricoli tribe, and we've been waiting for you to come. Legend has it that you are one of two beings who will restore our Ruby to us."

"A ruby?" Christian frowned. "I thought Sly Cooper was trying to do that."

"He is," the old man said with a laugh. "He has brought us you, and soon another." His eyes moved to the disk and he shrugged. "There is a second prophesy as well, not so much about you; but about that disk you hold.

"When a yellow rock lays in the field, hot as the sun and shining like the gods, a great evil will begin to reemerge from the darkness, to swallow the world.

"Perhaps you have come to save us from that too, but right now, we must concentrate on finding the second of the pair that will give us our Ruby back. If the shark uses it, there may be no world for the darkness to consume once it returns. That might seem to be a good thing, but if there's no world left after the Ruby is used, then there is no you or me, and I am not ready to die just yet."

Christian blinked and shook his head. A great evil? Did that mean the weapon Charlie had planned to use? But if it did, wouldn't it be part of the first prophesy? The old man said that this darkness was mentioned in _another_ prophesy, so that must have meant that there was a danger greater than Charlie! Now Christian began to know how all the cartoon superheroes real world heroes must have felt. Strike an evil down, a worse one rises to take its place.

Things hadn't gone from bad to worse; they looked like they were going to go from worse to hellish.

_**Okay this is longer than I thought it would be, but then I remembered I said you would find out how one of the cliff hangers would be played out in the last chapter. So now you know what's happened to Christian, and a little history about that disk, as well as some parts as to who the old man is. So you ask yourself, okay so what happened to the other cliff hangers? Well another piece of the puzzle is revealed in the next chapter, so stay tuned!**_


	12. Dungeons and Venom

_**Ziggy's Corner: Okay this chapter, like the last is also a very short one. For those of you who wondered what happened to Sly after getting knocked out by Dr. Goren, here's your answer.**_

He lay still on the cold cement floor, only a dirty toilet catching his eye. Sly rose to his feet, and dropped just as abruptly, he knees shaking, his stomach turning in knots, and his vision flailing between color and black and white.

The room or the cell rather he was in smelled of stagnant water and the walls old, gray and cracked oozed dark green mold over nearly ever inch of them. Sly pulled himself to the wall, and grimaced as the cold slime ran down his back. "Not exactly the Hilton Hotel is it?" he asked the darkness.

"Do you know how long I've waited to see you behind bars, Ringtail?" a harsh, Latin voice snarled from that very same darkness.

Sly smiled and inched closer to the bars, biting his lips until blood flowed down his chin as he moved. The stomach cramps were getting worse, he had no feeling of getting edgy any more, not sense the last dosage of the anti-venom, which he could tell the _good_ doctor had felt free to remove from his possession. "Carmelita, it's nice to hear at least one friendly voice in this little b class horror movie set."

"Charming, isn't he?" another feminine Latin voice snapped.

"And Elisa Fox–Canidao," his smile grew even wider. "Two very beautiful Interpol officers in one setting, if I could see you, I might either have a heart attack from such radiant beauties, or believed that I had died from one because of such angelic women in my presence." He turned his head one way and the other, straining to see through the shadows, hoping to pin down their exact locations.

"We're right across the hall from you, Cooper," Elisa said. "They made it so that you can't see us, but so we could see you."

"You really are something, you know that Sly?" there was something there, more than just frustration, more than irritation, anger. Carmelita looked at the raccoon's frowning face and crossed her arms. Both she and her sister had been released from the boards after Nyoko's mind games had been played, and the ninja seemed satisfied with what she had found. "Did you have any consideration what so ever about my brothers at all?"

Sly jerked, the boys. Gabriel. "Where is he? Gabriel?" He shot to his feet, and dropped to his knees, his stomach feeling as if an elephant was stomping on it.

"Just next to you, unconscious," Elisa said. "He's asleep."

"You better hope that's all that he is," Carmelita howled.

"That's enough," her sister growled at her, grabbing her by the arm. The two of them stared at each other with such ferocity that they'd both be dead if looks could kill. "Look at him, Carmelita, look at the raccoon. There is something obviously wrong with him and yet he pounced like a wild cat the minute he thought about our brother."

"And your point is?" Carmelita growled, ripping her arm out of her sister's grasp.

"He's not to blame here, its Charlie and his gang who are."

"You don't know Cooper like I do," Carmelita growled, waving her arms about. "Trouble finds him no matter where he goes; he's like a black cat!"

Sly lowered his head in shame and sighed. "She's right," he moaned, his voice on the edge of crying. "But I swear I never wanted anything like this to happen to the boys. I saw enough of the horror of the world when I was their age to never want it to happen to a child."

"Then you shouldn't have come and taken my computer, or once you had known, you should have taken them back," Carmelita screeched to the heavens.

"I know," Sly said, "Bentley tried to tell me, but I was too interested in stopping Charlie to really listen." Now there were tears in his eyes. "But . . . but, even if I never came to get the files, Charlie's thugs would have come to your apartment." His stomach was rolling now, and Sly could feel bile start to roll up his stomach. He hunched over on all fours and his body shook.

"What is wrong with you, Ringtail?" Carmelita took a few steps toward him and knelt down to look at the thief as he shook in agony.

"Poison," was his only answer. He felt the vomit surge forward, and he lunged for the toilet, barely making it. Foul smelling waste erupted from his mouth, laced with strong hints of blood. His body was shaking even worse now, and as the few minutes of shooting out waste from his mouth passed, Sly slipped off one of his gloves, and unstitched it a little, pulling out a very tiny vile of the anti-venom, and shot it into his skin. His weakness passed, but with the smallest amount he had put in his body, he knew that wouldn't last long at all.

"From what!" she shrieked. Sly simply shook his head as he wheezed for air, laying flat on his back. The younger woman turned to her sister and frowned. "How was it that Charlie's goons knew where to look for that disk, and what does it do?"

"I don't know," Elisa sighed. "I wish I did, and maybe at one time I did, but something about the last two months has been erased from my memory. I didn't want to say anything, because I didn't want to worry anyone. All I knew was that the disk was very important for something, that numerous governments didn't want it falling into Charlie's hands. I felt that the farther away it was from him, the better, so I sent it to you."

"And didn't tell me about it," Carmelita snapped, her hands on her waist.

"I told you about the files, and to make triple care of them, if I knew anymore, I would have told you more," Elisa growled. She stopped and looked toward Sly as the sound of waste splashing into water echoed through the hall. Apparently the anti-venom wasn't very effective.

"So along with the Ruby, now there is a disk to worry about?" Sly crawled to the bars and looked flat at the ground. "Nice. I suppose it's to make his weapon even more powerful that what it already is?"

"Again, I don't know. But history says that people who lust after power are only satisfied by more power; they're never full." She looked at the raccoon and frowned at his arm. "Looks like someone stabbed you with something, perhaps that's how the poison got into your system?"

"Bentley kind of jammed the anti-venom into my arm, my first major reaction to the venom seemed to make me a little crazy," the raccoon said, rubbing his arm. He frowned; he had been rubbing his arm long before Bentley had put the needle into it. Maybe something did stab him, but what?

"A little crazy? He was a lunatic," said a soft, low voice next to him. Sly looked over and smiled. "Of course I don't think it was his fault."

"And whose fault was yours and your brother's running away into his bag, Gus?" Carmelita howled, turning her attention to her awakening brother. She narrowed her eyes and shook her long locks. "You two are in so much trouble when this is over, the laxative incident is going to pale in comparison to what I'm going to do to you two."

Sly nearly choked on his air. "Laxative incident?" Elisa told him what that was about, much to Carmelita's howling rage, and the master thief burst into laughter.

"See, we're not the only one's who tells her secrets," the boy said before he could stop himself.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Carmelita growled, looking at her little brother. He backed away, almost instinctively knowing where she was, though he could not see her.

A weak Sly smiled, "That's right," he coughed, suddenly finding hidden strength. "So I have a lot of libido, do I?" He couldn't see her, but the sound of her gasp, and a slam of hands on metal bars, heading toward his next door neighbor was all he needed to know how she had reacted to that.

"You little brat! You read my diary?" Her eyes were wide and brazen with death as she stared at her brother.

"It's not like yours was the only one," he whined, glaring evilly at where he thought Sly was. "Christian and I agree that it was kind of boring." This brought on another wave of pained laughter from Sly, who threw up in the toilet a few seconds later. "Elisa's was much more interesting," the boy said, and then realizing what he had done, huddled over his toilet, and shook.

"Oh you two are _so_ dead," Elisa roared, rushing right beside her sister. "I'm going to tie the two of you down, skin you both alive, and then make the two of you sew your fur into fox skin coats!"

"Not if I get my hands on them first," Carmelita snarled. "And I won't be as nice as Elisa when I do." Her head snapped with irritation at the wheezing laughter of Sly, and hissed as he rolled on the ground.

"Don't be getting any ideas about that, Ringtail. It was a writing assignment, and the word libido was the best way I could think of using as an antonym for how I really think of you."

Sly would have said something else, but he could only lay there, tears in his eyes, his ribs aching, and the feeling of even more bile coming up. He panicked for a moment, he was looking up at the ceiling, if he threw up like this he'd suffocate. Using what strength he had, Sly flung himself belly down, and tossed his cookies, scowling as he laid nose first into the waste.

The humor of the previous minutes quickly died down as the taps of many legs echoed on the walls, and the crack of the whip could be heard in the air. "As amusing as that was to listen to," Nyoko purred, "I think we really should get the last bits of information from this smug little group," don't you think, Dr. Goren?" Lights flashed on and blinded them all.

"Yes, Nyoko, that should be most interesting." The hyena looked at the scorpion, how she stared with such humor at Sly. "What _is_ wrong with him anyway?"

"Didn't you hear him, he was poisoned." She smiled, her whip swaying in the air.

"But how?"

"Stopping being dense," the ninja growled, glaring at the hyena. "Now let's just get down to business, shall we?"

**_When I do cliff hangers, I really do them I guess. Anyway, next chapter you'll see yet two more siblings of Carmelita, one of them being a certain black sheep of the family that supposedly does not want to have anything to do with the family. And also, Morgan Skye returns to the story, YAY! I want to try to write another chapter or two before I submit these, perhaps by October 30th. If not I hope you've enjoyed the story so far! By the way, has anyone figured out how Sly was poisoned? If not the answer comes to you in chapter 14, so keep you minds calculating, and keep you eyes open! And yes, the safeguards I mentioned in an early chapter are still there, so no cheating._**


	13. Kickass Nun And A Black Sheep

**_Ziggy's Corner: Okay, chapter thirteen. Now we get to see the oldest of Issac and Maria's children, as well as the long talked about Black Sheep of the family. We also get to see Morgan Skye return to action. Oh, by the way, the two movies that Carmen talks about in the beginning paragraph are true movies. If you like you can order them from _****_ or you could go to They are Catholic movies (of course), but they are both good, and enjoyable. Anyway, on with the chapter! _**

The nun smiled up at the customer and handed the two videos to him. She was tiny, not even close to five feet, with tuffs of raven locks poking around her hood, her eyes shinning with brown light. "Thank you sir," she said; her voice just as tiny as her body, her accent mixed with both French and Spanish. "The Scarlet and the Black, and the Miracle of Marcelino, are both wonder films for families to watch." She handed the DVDs to the man and waved as he walked away.

Far to the end of the convention room she could see another booth, one that she wanted nothing to do with, and had truly hoped that no one would have. It was a Vic Crow's Kitten2Claw's organization who sat there, young woman with barely anything on, being gawked at by unclean eyes. Mentally Carmen Francis Fox, or rather, Sister Carmen Fox, said a few Hail Mary's, and went back to her job. It was kind of too bad Mother Angelica wasn't there though, she'd be leading a long line of nuns toward that booth and praying until it was closed down, she had done it before, and Carmen knew she would do it again.

She busied herself with her work, handing out Rosaries, and selling videos and books, and as the hours went by, she could hear the sounds of new girls across the hall, and she looked upward, curious as a very familiar voice echoed passed the rest of them. She blinked and sighed, her suspicions being confirmed.

"She's a cute one," one of her customers said, eyeing the new woman, not in a very lustily way, but still admiring. "It's too bad that she's in that kind of work, isn't it?" he looked at her and smiled for a moment, before doing a double take. He laughed and stroked his chin. The goat blinked yet again and did a second double take. "You know, the two of you could be sisters. Lord only knows how that child got into business with a creep like Vic Crow though."

Carmen smiled sadly and craned her head to look at the other woman. "I wouldn't say only the Heavenly Father knew that," she said in a tender tone. When the goat turned to look at her with a frown, she blinked. "You were quite right when you said we could be sisters."

He looked at the tiny little nun standing before him and back at the tall, statuesque fox, with dyed green and sea blue hair, multiple ear rings, thick brown eyes, and an obvious self conscious attitude. She wore only a light blouse, which was too small for her, a Victoria Secret's bra, and a dark black short sleeved jacket. Her voice was deep and filled with milk and honey, but didn't seem to hold much promise in the innocence that it portrayed.

Another man, one not very innocent himself had been walking by, smiled at the taller Fox, and turned back to the nun. "You're Olivia Josephina's sister?"

"One of them," she said with a nod of her head. She stared at him, daring him to say or do anything else, and the large pig shrugged and walked away. "It always seems like this, doesn't it?"

"Family, what can you do?" the goat said with a sad grin of his own. He patted the nun on her shoulder and lowered his head. "I'll say a few prayers for you both." Carmen smiled and nodded her head in thanks and the customer walked away.

Another hour went by, and it was the young nun's lunch break. Carmen normally would eat for a few minutes, and then say her prayers, but this time she was not very hungry. She licked her lips, mustered her courage, and began walking to the other booth, stopping only as her superior asked her what she was doing.

"Just going to have a little family reunion," she said.

Her superior looked at the other booth, and understood instantly. She could have prevented the young woman from going over there, ordered her to stay put, and she knew that Carmen would have obeyed. The hippo sighed and shook her head. "Please don't get into too much trouble, dear."

Carmen smiled and nodded her head. "You know me, Mother Terese," she said. She turned and began walking toward the booth again; not seeing the smile slid across her superior's face.

"I also know your family, which is why I said what I did," she said to herself with a chuckle.

Carmen walked passed the crowd, and finally reached the booth, and knelt down to pray. It took only a few minutes before those on the other side of the booth knew what was going on; most of the girls began covering up their bodies, the men shifting from foot to foot. Olivia only glared at her older sister.

When Carmen was finished with her prayers, and stood to her feet, Olivia practically pounced at her sister. "What do you think you are doing?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"It's been a long time," her older sister said with a grin.

Olivia grabbed the nun by her arm and began pulling her a little ways off. "I'm not coming back to the family, or your silly little faith," she snapped. "I've found my own course, and I'm very happy with the direction it's taken me."

"And what of the families that you ruin with your movies?" Carmen snapped though not as bitter as her sister. "Have you ever wondered about that?" She watched her sister roll her eyes and turn from her. "Look I didn't come over there to try and bring you back . . .," Carmen began.

"No, just scare away all of my customers," she growled. Olivia pounded her fist into the air and turned away. "I'm an actress," she hissed.

"An actress tries to bring joy and entertainment to people," the nun said. "You're good at acting; don't get me wrong, but all you provide is cheap thrills to a few lonely and sad people for just a few minutes to an hour."

Olivia spun on her heels, and glared at her sister, raising her upper lip with a flash of her upper canines. "There you go again, preaching, telling me how much better you are then me," she hissed.

"I never said that," Carmen said. "Olivia, you could be such a wonderful actress, if you would just go about it the right way." She reached out tenderly for her sister, but pulled back as Olivia slapped her hard across the face.

"Don't you talk to me about this is the _right way,_ or this is the _wrong way_! Can't you just understand that I want to do things the way I feel are right, what makes me happy?"

"And are you happy now?" the nun asked.

"I was until you had to get on your high horse and get all holy than though on me," her sister screeched, ignoring the public staring at them. She stared at her with such anger that fireballs seemed to come from them. "So I have a life, so I was popular in school, while boys didn't even give you a second glance, that's not my fault."

Carmen's chest ached as she looked at Olivia, and she felt tears in her eyes. "I have a life," she said softly.

Olivia turned and laughed bitterly. "You don't even live in the real world. You live with a bunch of other women, in poverty, cooped up in some boring old castle, doing nothing more than planting a garden, and saying your prayers like the good little girl you always were. How boring."

"I don't live in a castle, first off . . .," she started to say.

"You know what I mean," Olivia scoffed.

"And secondly, life is not all about excitement and fun," the nun snarled.

"Well it should be," the younger woman snapped.

"Then I suggest that you grow up," the nun sighed. She turned and walked back to her booth.

"We're not finished," the younger sister growled.

"I think we are." Carmen stormed back to her booth, and was half way there, when five armed jackals entered the convention area, and scanned the room, ignoring horrified gasps and fingers pointing.

Security quickly rushed to intercept them but was cut down as the fiends opened fire and dropped not only the guards, but numerous innocent beings as well. Carmen had dropped to her belly as the guns were lowered, and held her hands over her ears, waiting for the guns to silent.

"I'll say this only once," the head jackal shouted. "We are here for the sisters of Carmelita Montoya Fox. If they surrender themselves, no one else will be injured."

Carmen frowned, and blinked. What on earth could these bullies want with Olivia or her, and how did they know their sister? The nun swallowed and slowly rose to her feet, her arms into the air. From the corner of her eyes, she could spy Olivia lay on the floor, and stay there, her eyes wide with horror.

"That's one of them," one of the thugs snapped. Quickly they rushed forward and grabbed her by the arms. "So where's the other one?" one of the men asked, pushing Carmen forward.

They scanned the room, and fired their bullets again. "I want to make this perfectly clear, we are not patient men, and neither is our employer." His eyes were full of fury and hatred, the devil's eyes. "We know that the nun and the actress sister of Carmelita are both here." His eyes scanned the room; there were at least thirty foxes there.

The leader of the thugs grabbed the nun's arm, and pointed his gun at her head. "If you don't show yourself, I'll blow her brains out."

"You're wasting your breath," she sighed. "I don't have a sister here." The thug howled with anger and pistol wiped her across the back of the head, leaving her dazed.

"Charlie the Great doesn't want them dead," another jackal said. "He wants us to bring them to him alive."

"I know that," the lead jackal howled. His eyes scanned the room, and he raised his gun yet again. "All of you foxes rise to your feet, now!" Slowly but surely they complied, and he had his men gather them up.

Then he turned his attention to the girls of Vic Crow's booth and narrowed the gun at them. "I prefer much more sophisticated films than the ones you make, so I'll make this brief. If you want to live to see another day, tell us which one of these foxes is Olivia Josephina Fox." In unison, they pointed to their coworker, and the thugs quickly rushed to grab her, and pull her toward them. The lead jackal smirked and nodded his head. "Thank you ladies, you're not as stupid as you look." He blinked and aimed the gun at the crowd. "Now, none of you do anything stupid, and you can all go back to your boring, stuffy lives."

"Ladies first," one of the thugs said, bowing as he opened the door to a limo. He grinned wickedly as the nun approached the door, and bent down to enter, but screamed as she turned around and slammed her foot into his stomach, shutting the door on his fingers.

Before the others could respond, Olivia gripped another thug by his shoulder and lifted him off the floor, heaving into a few others. Before the fiends had known what had happened, the two sisters had mopped the floor with them, and were standing over a rug of unconscious bodies.

Carmen reached over and gripped her sister's cell phone, and quickly dialed the police. After explaining what had happened to them, she hung up, ignoring her sister's complaints and called her superior. She explained what had happened, and that she had to take a few days off to figure what to do next. With a little wrangling, she was finally given permission to do what she had to, but was told to be very careful.

She tossed the phone back at her sister, and began walking to the hotel, for her clothes. When she was asked by Olivia what she was going to do, she turned and looked at her. "What do you think? You heard what I told my superior."

"So? You're off to be an action hero now?" the younger Fox snapped.

"I want to know what these men wanted with us, and with Carmelita. If you want, come with me, otherwise, go ahead and go back and explain to all those poor people why you felt free to just lay down and stay on the ground, when you could have helped them." She cocked her head and grinned.

"What is that supposed to mean? I'm not an officer, I'm not trained to combat gun totting maniacs," she snarled.

"And yet you did," Carmen said, her eyes twinkling.

Olivia glared at her sister and looked back at the convention center. She'd much rather go back and get on with life, but she could easily see the angry stares from everyone when she walked back in, like the dame of the ball, like nothing really happened. In the distance she could hear sirens wail, and she knew both the police and an ambulance were heading this way. "Shouldn't we at least stay and let the police know what was going on here?"

Carmen hadn't thought about that. She agreed, and as soon as they could give a statement, excused the two of them on important matters. The nun pulled the tall actress away from the crowd, and toward the hotel. Once there, they changed clothes, her a little more modern, though nothing revealing except for her face and arms, while her sister covered herself, though left more skin than her sister did.

They walked down to the lobby and it dawned on the younger sister that they had no way to get around. When she brought that to Carmen's attention, the nun smirked and winked at her. "Are you so sure about that?"

They continued to walk to the parking lot, and to Olivia's amazement, the nun dragged out a large Harley Davidson. It was painted white, white angelic angels over it, but it was a Harley none the less. "So much for not sticking out," she moaned.

"We don't have to worry about that," she said. "We just need to get where we are going fast."

"And that would be?"

"Europe for starters," the nun said. "And then if need be, Australia."

Olivia cocked her head and blinked. "Australia?"

"Those thugs said something about Charlie the Great," Carmen said. "What I know about that criminal, is that he operates in the continent nation."

"I've never heard about him until today," the actress said, blinking more.

"One of these days I'm going to have to ask momma if you were adopted," the nun said with a playful sigh.

Morgan Skye looked down at the infrared beams and smirked as they slowly moved back and forth; guarding the booklet she was after. Her eyes twinkled and she chuckled, brushing some hair from her eyes. "They call this security?"

The numbat leapt down off of the balcony and tiptoed behind one of the guards matching back and forth, just inches from the bars of light. She smirked again, and pulled out her two hooked Katara blades, tapping him on the shoulder. "Excuse me love, could you direct me to the nearest restroom?" she cooed. She giggled as the guard spun on his heels, and laughed as she latched onto his suspenders, lifting him off of his feet, and crashing his head into the thick brick wall. "No? Sorry to bother you then, enjoy your nap."

It wasn't very shadowy, or smooth, but it _was_ fun. Morgan always liked seeing the shock in her target's eyes before she struck. It was like a rush, to see how fast her reflexes were as compared to her mark. And with the occasional exception of Sly Cooper, she always proved to be the fastest. The young numbat twirled her Katara and looked again at the moving lights. "Well, maybe this will be more fun than you were," she said to the unconscious guard.

Her blue eyes darted around the room at first, and spied two security cameras. She grinned yet again, and pulled a hood over her head. She wanted them to catch her in the act, but not her face. It wouldn't do for a respected business woman to be caught going back to her old ways of doing things. As soon as her mask was on, she turned and began approaching the lights.

She walked over one, and flung herself back, as if doing the limbo as a second arched overhead. She tiptoed, spun, dropped on her back and stomach, and even preformed a cartwheel past a group of them, each beam just narrowly missing the young master thief. On camera it looked like she was dancing across the floor, her nimble body twisting and stretching in ways that many people could possibly imagine it doing. She leapt on statues, and twirled around them as the lights stroke the marble figures' heads, and rolled into a ball and rolled past beams that had just kissed the floor with their heat a second ago. Inch by inch, she made her way to the booklet, until she was far passed the lights themselves. Morgan giggled, and bowed for the cameras, and then spun her Katara in her fingers and tossed them in opposite directions, shattering electric controls that were hidden in the walls, which would have activated lethal booby traps should she had stepped on the wrong step on the granite floor.

Morgan sauntered over to the manuscript that had held her attention since she had read about it in a newspaper, and contemplated the glass container that held it. If she had been Sly, she would have taken her cane and burst the glass, but smash and crash usually was not her style. She liked the air of confusion and mystery that swept over her marks, wondering who she was, and how she managed to do things that seemed impossible. She placed two gloves over her hands, and splattered a strange liquid over them. Rubbing them together for a few minutes, she wiped the top of the glass box a few times, and watched as the heat dissolved it to a liquid substance, just enough that no alarms would go off, and so she could reach in, with a gloveless hand and take her prize. Once that was accomplished, she replaced the glove, squirted another dose of liquid and manipulated the ooze until it was as hard and clear as it had been in the beginning.

The numbat turned, smiled and again bowed to the cameras as she retrieved her Katana, and leapt into the air, landing on a statue's head. Leap by leap she made it back to the balcony, and finally out into the open air. She leapt onto the roof of the famous Greek criminal, Mikal Minatos, and jetted off into the dark.

When she finally was within a safe distance, she pulled the manuscript from her bag, and paged through it, studying the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. She wasn't able to read them right there, but that really didn't matter. Once she got back to her apartment, she could translate it there. After all, she owned the famous Rosetta Stone, not a copy, or even an etched scratching on paper, but the stone itself, which she had decided to acquire one night when still in her teens. The stone everyone said was authentic in the museum was the fake.

Perhaps that's what caused the break between her and Sly. He had thought that it was impressive that she had taken something like that, but thought it should really be returned. Or so he said anyway. And he had gone about taking it "back" a few weeks later, only to find out that he had only possessed it for a few hours, before a disguised Morgan had managed to slip him a fake one, and retake the stone for herself.

She stood there and smiled, no, that hadn't caused the dissention between them, she had no doubt that he knew within a few days he had been tricked, but he had never tried to steal the stone again, that she knew of. From time to time she would have her scientists study the stone, making sure it was authentic, and it always was. So what was the break? _Probably that I told him I was bored with this lifestyle. God only knows why, this was amusing to say the least._

Morgan Skye closed her eyes and relished their last meeting, five years ago before he had brought those children with him Friday night. She could still remember his strength, those sweet brown eyes, so sad at the thought of losing a partner, how intoxicating. It had almost made her want to retake what she had said. Then, of course, that kiss. It was the last one between them, and it had still sent waves of chilled delight up her spine. She had always thought he would try and woo her back to a life of nightly escapades, but a few months after that, a certain fox had been brought in to investigate and apprehend Sly and his friends, and after that, it seemed like Sly had a new dance partner.

Morgan felt her chest drop and her eyes turned sad, so many happy memories, so many thoughts of what could have been. She shrugged and sighed, and looked at the book again, paging through it a few more times. There was one thing that always seemed every present on these pages, a symbol that she couldn't quite make out, but it caused her apprehension. It was the figure of a large, winged being with a shadowy body. Below that being would always be similar words, but without the stone she could not make them out.

She bent forward and used a flashlight to get a better look at the picture, and she blinked. "Is that . . . an owl?"

**_Okay a long chapter, that's cool. Anyone getting ideas about Clockwerk coming back, well I don't think that's going to happen. It will be determined with how my niece thinks about it. Right now I intend to go for someone much worse than the lunatic owl, someone who helped push him into insanity and jealousy for their own goal. Of course should my niece think the idea of Clockwerk returning is a good thing, then you may see him too. _**

_**By the by, what have you all to say about my characters? I know what you think of the twins (I am really enjoying them too ), and Shark likes Nyoko. Yeah, I did envision her as a sexier version of the Contessa, so you're right there, Shark! I wish I could draw as well as I write, or I could draw a picture of her for you all. Anyway, what do you think of Carmelita's other siblings so far? I really wanted Olivia to come across as a spoiled, selfish little brat (though she's 28, so not so little), Carmen I wanted to come out as loving, but hard headed, and Miguel, he came out just like I wanted him too. And Morgan Skye, who is inspired by my niece (though my niece is younger than Morgan Skye), well I have to say, she's really coming across as a cool character to me, but what do you all say?**_

**_Anywho, I guess I'll stop rambling long enough so you can rub your eyes, and get ready to enjoy chapter 14. Have any of you figured it out yet? If not, then hold on, because the secret of Sly's poisoning is about to be told! And no cheating! Because the cyber cookie bags that are won by cheating as still poisoned. Not to mention that I've also created numerous traps and set up certain robotic sentinels that will live you giggling your pants off if you get to close. I've also recruited Alyson Mack who plays Chloe from Smallville and Michaela Conlin, the actress who plays Angela on the show Bones, to guard the secret with AK-47's._** **_Why, because quite frankly their both hot, and have promised to distract any of my male readers from trying to get the secret before its time to reveal. So beware, even Sly would have a hard time getting this little tidbit. Lol. Anyway, off to the 14th chappie! _**

**_Oh by the way Heiduska, I don't know if you are familiar with the anime series, BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo, but its really rather funny, and I've done a fiction on that if you want to cheek it out. Who knows, you might be the first reviewer? Anyway, this announcement goes out to all of you, I just brought Heiduska up because I know, she (he?) likes comedy. Okay see you all later!_**


	14. Infiltration and A deadly tail

_**Ziggy's Corner: For those of you who have been patient and waiting for the answer to how Sly got poisoned, unless of course you either figured it out, or risked challenging all my traps, the wait is over! This chapter will tell you how, and when he was made sick. In this chapter you also get to see what Carmelita's father is doing, and you also get to have another answer, who was facing Bentley at the van, and what was he about to say. So strap on your seat belts, and get ready, cuss here we go!**_

"You're . . .," it was impossible for him to say anything but that single word over and over and over. Bentley felt his face flush as he looked at the other person, and he blinked. "You're . . .," he said again.

"Another turtle?" the female asked him, her voice as soft as a cloud. Her skin was bright green, and her eyes were as violet as a field of . . . well violets. She was exactly his own size, and wore the same kind of specs that he did, although her hat was large, white, and flowery. She smiled at him and ran her hand over the side of her head. "Would you care terribly if I came in?" Her voice was a mixture of both proper English and propriety Southern. "I was vacationing in Australia, and seemed to have gotten lost from my group. I stumbled across you van, and I hope you don't mind, decided to bother you."

"Oh, of course," the flustered male turtle stammered. He stood there, smiling at this creature of beauty and just took her all in. It wasn't until she frowned at him that he came partially to his senses and with an embarrassed laugh, moved aside, so she could walk in. She smiled and nodded her head as she walked by him, and gasped at the high tech of the van.

"My goodness, so much machinery," she seemed to squeal. "You must be some kind of technological genius to use all of this."

He chuckled and blushed again, continuing to take in the angelic form in front of him, even the air around her smelled sweet and lovely. Like him, and all turtles, she had no hair on her head, but she did have eyebrows; lovely, rich black eyebrows that shimmered with Heavens light. He rubbed his hands together and stood there, just blinking and smirking at her as she watched him.

"Oh my," she said, her smile slipping. "I've forgotten my manners. My name is Rose Marie Shell. I'm an archeologist, though as I've said, I was only here on vacation. And you are?"

"You're … you're …," he said, his eyes wide as was his smile. Mentally he thumped himself on the head, groaning in exasperation. _Say something stupid._ Rose Marie put her hand to her mouth and giggled.

"Apparently in shock," she laughed. "I truly apologize for that." She walked over to him, and took him by the arms, setting him down on in a chair. "Calm down," she continued to laugh, as he grew stiff. "I won't bite you."

She stood up and looked around and spied the coffee maker. Rose Marie walked over to it, and began pouring a cup for the startled turtle, when Bentley shot to his feet and squeaked in protest.

"I, I'm sorry," he forced from his lips. "I've had bad experience with that stuff this morning." She frowned at him, and then started to laugh as she stared at the dozen or so coffee mugs lined up neatly by the sink.

Rose Marie walked over to him and smiled brightly yet again. "At any rate I'm pleased to see you are speaking, so may I inquire the name of my host?"

Bentley swallowed and forced himself to speak. "Bentley," he coughed out.

"It's nice to meet you, Bentley," she said, extending a hand. Reluctantly he took her hand and shook it, and then pulled away. "Don't be so nervous," she said with a smile. "Many men act like this around me, and it's not really necessary. I'm just as human as they come." She looked over the other turtle's shoulder and frowned. "Do you have children?"

Bentley followed her gaze, and looked at the board games he had forgotten to put up. That brought him back to the present and he blinked. "They're not mine but siblings of a 'friend'."

"I see," she said, stroking her chin. "Where are they?"

"I wish I knew," he said. When she frowned, Bentley began the whole story, despite wanting to stop himself. He watched her lovely features turn from interest, to horror, to something very close to disgust.

"A thief? You?" she shot to her feet and glared at him, watching him blush and turn his gaze to his feet.

"I know it sounds bad," he moaned. "If you want to leave, I won't stop you. If there is somewhere you'd like to go, I could take you there, before coming back." ****

She looked at him for a moment and crossed her arms. A long time passed before she spoke again. "From what you've told me, you're not a very evil person. In fact it seems like all you really want to do is protect the innocent, even if you've gone about it the wrong way." She blinked and began to pace. "So where did you say this fortress of that horrid shark is?"

Bentley blinked and cocked his head. "Um, Rose Marie, I don't really want to get you involved," he said, hating to think what would happen to this beautiful woman if things got ugly.

"But you already have, you see. By telling me what you have, I've been made part of this whole thing. So where is this lair?"

"But, but how could you help?"

Rose Marie giggled and shrugged. "I told you I'm an archeologist. I've investigated and researched many ruins and relics all over the world. My family has for the last eight generations. So it could be that I am familiar with the area." He told her quickly, and she began tapping her foot.

"I'm not as familiar with that building, but with the area, my great-great grandfather surveyed that area numerous times. Provided that it's not all covered up with metal from his fortress, there could be certain caves and tunnels we could use to sneak in there, how does that sound?"

Bentley took a few steps back and blinked, and then smiled . . . impressed at her intellect and cleverness. "I'd have to wait for Sly and Murray to come back, but it sounds like a good plan."

Rose Marie smiled and winked at him. "Well then, I'll just open my bag, and get out my books. When I find the one with that area, we'll go over it until we have a sound plan of attack."

Issac waited until the officer had gone out of the room, and then inched along the edge of the building until he was through the window and into the room, locking the door. How ironic, he thought, that an officer of Interpol would pull of the same kinds of stunts that a criminal hunted by that law organization was famous for.

It couldn't be helped. No one would answer his questions on the telephone, and no one would see him here in Vienna. The superior officer even threatened with a notice that if he had tried to keep up the harassment, he'd have him arrested and thrown out of Interpol, along with his father and his children. But with Miguel getting no results, and with none of the other children knowing anything, Carmen wasn't even picking up her phone and the mother superior at her convention was too busy with something to come to the phone, Issac knew something was indeed wrong.

The clever fox inspector turned to the documents in the office and began filing through them one by one, of course distracting the video cameras with something to look at other than himself. He read the documents, scanning each word into his memory and neatly placing them back to the place where he found them. He knew that his daughter Elisa was on a case to arrest that old card cheat, Charlie the Great, and he knew how dangerous the fiend was, but he had no idea just how dangerous until he began reading through the files, and nearly had to throw up by what he read.

And there was more. Someone looked like they were bankrolling his latest scheme, whatever that was. Issac tapped his fingers and flipped through more papers. Whoever seemed to be behind this had operated in the city for a while, but was long gone by now. But that didn't mean they didn't leave flunkies somewhere to keep an eye on other programs they might be funding. But the question was, who was this person, and why was his name, or her name, or their names blocked out in official Interpol documents?

Issac went through the rest of the papers, and placed them back where they were, slipping through the window, and down to the ground. Like a bolt of lightning he was gone from there, passed the guards and the stations, until he was back in his hotel room and writing notes down furiously. His hand picked up the phone and he rested it on his shoulder, calling certain friends who he knew he could trust with important information and each promised him they would find out.

"You look like there's something bothering you," his wife said, as she walked up to him, rubbing his shoulders. "Is it about Carmelita?"

"It's about a lot of things. I think that Interpol has been compromised somehow," he said, his eyes growing darker as he stared at a large black bookshelf. The longer he stared at it, the more frustrated he began, and he tossed his glass of wine at it, causing Maria to scream.

"What is wrong?" she knelt down next to him and forced him to look her in the eyes. "Issac, it's impossible to infiltrate Interpol, you must know that."

"It would be hard, yes," he sighed. "But with the right determination, and the correct amount of resources and money, nothing is impossible."

"Could Charlie the Great pull is off?" she asked, her heart racing. Perhaps the shark had vendetta against the Fox clan because of Elisa?

"He's a dangerous criminal, and a cunning adversary but I doubt his ambitions run that deep," her husband said. "There are a thousand different criminals who have more money and more ambition than he does, but what I can't figure out is why some of their names have been taken out of our files."

"Wouldn't searching for them be a good place to start then?" Her mind was racing, she'd never seen him this distressed, and to top it off, she was still frightened for her children, especially her youngest sons.

"I've just asked my friends to do just that," he stated. "But there could be even more to this. I need to do more research, but I'm very frightened for our children. I've never been this frightened."

"At least one of us has finally openly admitted it," she said.

"I intend on doing more than just admitting it," Issac snapped. "I intend on acting and resolving this fear." He looked at his wife and stroked her lovely hair. "Whoever is behind this doesn't know the Fox family very well." He smiled, "Even the twins are capable of kicking their butt, and might already be doing it."

"If they know what's good for them, they won't," Maria snarled, her eyes glimmering with vengeful light. "Not unless they want to have a doctor use the Jaws of Life on their hinnies for a very long time."

Issac chuckled and kissed her cheek. "I'm sure that they're being very careful with whatever they're doing." _Mijos for your sakes, you'd better be safe anyway. I don't think I could keep your mother away from your butts for too long._

Sly could feel his body tighten, as if his ribs had begun to shrink and collapse around his lungs, and he gasped for air. The evil doctor seemed amused as he watched the raccoon struggle to maintain balance, resting his chin on his hands as he watched Sly crawl to the bars, his own brown eyes filled with pain and anger.

"What is it you want from us?" he wheezed.

"To see you suffer, of course Herr Cooper," the doctor said with a wicked grin. Already the scorpion had done her work with the sisters, and was busy interrogating the boy, and Sly knew that within the next few minutes he would be next. "Tell me, I must know, how does it feel, laying there so helpless, knowing that you are at the mercy of someone else?"

"It's better than looking at your ugly mug," Sly moaned with a forced smile. The distain on Dr. Goren's face was more than enough reward for Sly, and well worth the price of pain wracking his face as he grinned.

Sweat poured down his body, his fur was thick, and clenched to his skin, suffocating him all the more. The raccoon's joints felt like they were being stretched on a board and ground into powder at the same time, and it was taking everything he had to just move. From the corner of his eye he could see the ninja work her mind tricks on the child, and across the hall he could finally see Carmelita and her sister, growling in frustration at the helplessness of the situation. The whole room seemed to spin as he tried to pull himself to his feet and Sly's eyes rolled back in his head as he dropped onto his back, his ears ignorant of the cries of the detectives.

"Save you're strength, Cooper-San," Nyoko said with a little grin, "you'll need it for when I speak to you next." She turned back to the boy and knelt down, her blue eyes glowing and shimmering like a pool of ice cold water as she watched him.

"Now child, I will ask you again," she said, her voice sounding like that of a kindergarten teacher speaking to a young boy with infinite patience, "what do you know of the computer chip that we are seeking?"

Try as he might, Gabriel could not take his eyes off of her. The scorpion was a villainess, a crook, but she also looked very nice at the moment, and her voice didn't really seem all that mean. He blinked a few times, and the dungeon evaporated around him. Gabriel felt his soul leave his body, and soar into the past; scenes of the last couple of hours racing like Greece lightning with red and yellow lines soaring passed his body. It was as if he were looking for something, once in a while the blurs slowed down and he focused on something, but as soon as it proved to be unimportant, the motion started all over again. Visions of his family and friends struck his mind, words that could be used for Charlie the Great's rise to power were plucked from the scenes and stored in what looked like a computer file, and then it was off to another scene, and yet another, until he dropped to the dungeon floor, his head pounding and the ninja shrugging.

"He doesn't know anything," she stated flatly.

"Or else the brat is lying," Goren growled. He looked at the boy and grinned brutally. "Let me have a few minutes with him."

"Like the hour you spent with his sisters?" she retorted. His head snapped at her and he growled. "I doubt Charlie will allow you to use your little tickle bots on him, like you did with them, it was a waste of his money."

Sly frowned and looked at Carmelita and Elisa. A smile made its way to his lips and he chuckled to himself. _Carmelita is ticklish? I'll have to remember that, might be a good way to cheer her up when she works herself to hard._ The fox seemed to read his mind and she exposed her canines.

"Try it Ringtail, and I'll use my shock blaster on you until you can't move, and then I'll peal the skin from your fingers _slowly_, before breaking each one." He smiled at her, and then frowned as a shadow hovered over him.

"But before she gets the chance, Cooper-San, let's have a little talk shall we?" Nyoko said with her own wicked grin. She knelt before him and grabbed his chin with her hands. "You don't look too well, do you?"

"I've been better," he coughed out with a laugh. "Of course with you hear that might change."

Her grin never left her face, as she took the words to be both compliment and insult at the same time. "You poor baby," she cooed, "I can make it all better you know." Her eyes twinkled and her tail swished back and forth. She caught him watching it, his eyes mimicking the motion of it perfectly, and as they did, something seemed to dawn on him. Nyoko grinned. "It took you long enough Cooper-San. Honestly I would have thought your little turtle friend would have made the connection before now."

"What are you talking about, witch?" Carmelita snarled. Her eyes were also on the tail, watching it bob and weave, like a snake playing with its prey. The fox leapt back as the tail stiffened and launched out at her, nearly striking her.

Nyoko cackled. "What do you think, Inspector Fox? Had my tail struck you, twenty four hours from now, you'd be in the same shape as Cooper-San here."

Goren looked at the scorpion, at her tail and back at her. "You were the one who poisoned him."

Nyoko sighed as she rose to her feet and narrowed her eyes. "Yes, Doctor Goren, I poisoned him."

"But . . . but I never saw you strike him with your tail during the fight at his hide out," the hyena stroked his head and blinked blindly.

"I never expected someone so narrow minded as you to ever do so," she taunted. Ignoring his growl of anger, the ninja turned back to the raccoon. "Now Cooper-San, I have a little proposition for you. Tell me what I want to know, and I will give you the antidote."

"What I know or what you want to hear?" Sly moaned, holding his ribs as if he were afraid they were going to fall off his body. He was warmer now, and his eyes were filled with anger. His legs shook and wobbled as if they were made of jelly, yet still he insisted on standing. "I wouldn't tell you the time of day."

She stood there, just looking at him. She blinked and sighed. "Pity, I'd use my tricks on you, but I really do not think you know where the chip is either. And in your state it might kill you." She continued to stare at him and narrowed her head. "Are you sure that is your final answer?"

"So now you're Regis Philbin? Sorry lady, but I don't like game shows," he groaned with a weak smile.

"Then perhaps you enjoy Reality Television, because the reality is, without my antidote, you will die, Cooper-San."

He shook his head, still making himself smile. "Nope, not into reality either."

She blinked. "Pity," she said. With the motion that could only belong to a vampire or a ninja, she was at the bars, gripping his head in her hands. Before anyone could do anything about it, she pressed her lips against his, and kissed him for what seemed like a very long time. When at last she let him go, both were short on breath, both of them were heaving, and Sly's eyes were wider than the Grand Canyon.

Nyoko's smile grew and her hands ran down her body. "Truly a pity; such a waste of a majestic specimen of masculinity. It will be a shame for women all over the world to lose one such as you, Cooper-San." She continued to pant for a few extra minutes, and turned to Goren. "We're leaving."

"But … but, the chip," he burped out.

"They don't have it, or know where it's at," she snapped. "If we find the other child, then we will find the chip. Now _move!_" She stared at a flustered Sly for a second more, both exhilarated, and at the same time remorseful, and then she walked out of the dungeon.

_**Okay ladies and gentlemen, there is was! So how did you like it? LOL, so now most of you who haven't made your minds up yet about Nyoko will have probably done it. I'm telling you, she is such a blast, one of the more "alive" original characters I've ever done! And I feel that now she's gone from sexy, to down right HOT! **_

_**Anyway, the next couple of chapters will be updated sometime in late November, but probably closer to December. Lt. Cooper, I hope these last batch of chaps make up for the waiting you've been doing. Chapter fifteen sees Carmen and Olivia travel to Turkey to search for clues, and Gabriel busts out of prison to search for the antidote, but will he find it in time? Until then faithful reviews, Happy Halloween, and more than likely, also Happy Thanksgiving! **_

**_Okay now is a new part of my stories, starting with the next chapter, I will answer what I feel is the best three questions about myself that you all might want to know. The top three questions, only one from each reviewer mind you, will be answered in the beginning of Ziggy's Corner. So if there is something you want to know about me, so long as it's not too personal, go ahead and ask. Of course you want to know my real name, astrological sign, or age or year of birth, you can click on my writer's name page and read that. So get your questions ready, and I'll get ready to answer them (again so long as their not too personal). _**


	15. Darkness and Hope

_**Ziggy's Corner: Hey cool, you guys have nearly captured the gold medal for my total reviewer! That means this story is a massive hit! A MidWinter's Romance is only four reviews ahead, just 47- these 43! At one point as I counted the new crop of reviews this story did actually take the gold, but lost it shortly after words. Anyway do not give up, who knows, this might just take the title yet! If I make this a forty chapter story, then it may blow the Avatar story out of the water. Anyway I will start the story, and let fate take care of the story. One word though, the sisters have just entered the normal timeline now. Before that, Carmen and Olivia were a good twenty hours behind everyone. Sorry for the inconvenience. Also sorry for the paragraph spaces, I had put some in, but apparently it wasn't obvious what they were or at least was not putting them in, so I'll try it a different way and hopefully that will work!**_

Carmen was tired, and Olivia was seriously irritating. It was one constant complaint with that girl this whole time, and the nun had begun to consider the wisdom of taking her along for the ride. Especially now.

"I can't believe we can't even wear our normal clothes," the actress cried, tugging at her robes and clothes around her body. "I mean have they even worn these things here?"

"Gee, I wonder," Carmen groaned. "It's an Islamic country Olivia, what do you think?"

Turkey wasn't as fanatic about their faith as say, old Afghanistan or Iran were, but they still didn't like seeing women walking around with so much flesh showing, and that suited Carmen fine. The less attention they drew to themselves, the better.

Adana, Turkey was a large city, half the size of Dallas, Texas with people going from one end to the other, selling their goods, and peparing to send agriculture and cotton, wheat, and other produce to other areas of Turkey and beyond to sell.

"Why are we here?" Olivia whined, ignoring grunts of anger as she pushed by pedestrians.

"Because we have a lead about Charlie the Great," the nun said her voice lower and her eyes moving around. "You read it, a former business partner of the shark, an Asad ben Marid, lives here, and may know something about him."

"So you had me cover up, but what about you? I mean I see a lot of women who are not veiling their faces. What is wrong with how you normally dress?"

"Islamic country," Carmen said under her breath yet again. "I've had bad experiences with countries who aren't very happy to see a woman of the cloth, so to speak, in their land."

She remembered a time when she had traveled to Nepal to aide in the recovery of a village there. She had been so optimistic, and when she and a number of nuns reached the village, several teenagers with vicious looking weapons approached them, and scanned them for a long time. Finally a nineteen year old girl looked at them, leveled the weapon and ordered them to leave.

"But why?" Carmen had asked, not sure what was happening.

"This village is under the protection of the People's Liberation Army," she had snapped, her finger itching to press the trigger. "We don't need religion here. The people can look after themselves."

"But we have food, and clothes," she had tried to say.

"Which were made on the backs of the poor, and donated by imperialistic capitalists," the girl growled, quoting her mantra as it had been programmed of her to do. "The Communist nation of Nepal does not associate with the rich and haughty, nor do we acknowledge fanatics who refuse to give up their superstitions. Now leave."

Carmen could still feel the rage and fear of that day, but in the interest of her faith, she put it behind her, and prayed for the soul of that poor, angry young girl. The day was growing late, and they still had to find the stone bridge, where they would pass to get to this contact's home.

It didn't take them long to get to it, a stone building with red bricks, and large glass windows, blowing bitter black smoke out of its chimney. It was labeled a toy factory, but she had her doubts. Why would Charlie the Great's one time partner be in business for toys? And what was a toy factory doing in Turkey?

"Some one forgot to tell this guy that we've reached the twenty-first century, Olivia said her brown eyes glittering in the sun's light.

"Just keep your mouth closed and your eyes open for anything that seems out of the ordinary," the nun said.

"Oh, you mean like a nineteenth century toy factory in a twenty-first nation that still thinks it's part of a sixteenth century empire?" Olivia asked, her lips twisting upward.

Carmen contemplated saying something to her, but decided against it. No sense in arguing here in public and letting people look at them. "Look, I am sorry if you're having a hard time here, but if we want to know what is going on, we have to do this for the family."

Olivia looked at her older sister, and turned away. "Fine, you're the boss, it's about time you decided to start acting like it."

Carmen bit her lips and opened the door, walking into the lobby. A young sheep was sitting at the front desk, and looked up at them, smiling at them as they walked in. "You are the next appointment for Mr. ben Marid?"

"We are," Carmen said.

She nodded and rose, "This way please," she said.

"Interesting place," Olivia said as they walked through the building. It was older looking on the inside than on the outside. In fact it almost looked like a demented Santa's workshop postcard to her. "Where is all of the technology? How do you compete with the big boys?"

"Madame," the sheep said, turning to look at her, "Mr. ben Marid is a Muslim of old standing. He has very little taste for technology, just bringing joy and peace to people, especially children. And as for how do we compete? Well," she laughed, "we're mainly the only toy makers for at least two hundred miles, so in fact we _are_ the big boys."

They reached the doors of his office, and the sheep knocked on the door. A few seconds later a strong voice echoed through it, and she opened it, stepping aside to let the sisters walk through.

Asid ben Marid was a large lion, possibly of cave mountain legacy. His main was massive and brown, running from the back of his neck to two thirds of his chest. His eyes were brown, browner than mud or dark chocolate. His head was covered with a hood, but he lifted it down, and smiled, motioning them to sit down.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, his voice thick with Arabic accent.

"We want to talk to you about an old friend," Carmen said smiling at him sweetly. He looked at her and chuckled.

"I have many," he said, his large canines shining. "Which ones would you like to know about?"

"How about Charlie the Great for starters?" Olivia snapped. She could feel her sister's glare burning at her soul, but she did not really care. Asid's grin dropped like a rock, and he lowered his eyes.

"Unfortunately, I no longer associate with that particular name," he said, his tone dark. "If that's what you came here for, then I suggest that you not waste any more of your time."

"Sir, please, if there is anything you can tell us about him," Carmen blurted out.

He sighed and picked up a book, flipping through it. "They ask you about drinking and gambling. Say: 'There is great harm in both in both, although they have some benefit for men; but their harm is greater than their benefits." He closed the book and smiled sadly. "He had no problem with the alcohol, but he couldn't let go of the gambling. And when it looked like he reached his limits, he would not give it up, unlike myself. He created marked cards, and continued in his obsession to be the best."

"The Koran also says, 'Believers, wine and games of chance, idols and divining arrows, are abominations devised by Satan. Avoid them so you may prosper," Carmen said, quoting from memory.

He blinked at her and smiled. "The Table, ninetieth paragraph," he said. "Please forgive me, but you do not strike me as a Muslim woman, I am surprised that you would know it."

"I have read many sacred books in my spare time, Mr. ben Marid," she answered with a smile.

"I see," he said, raising an eyebrow. "You don't happen to be an agnostic or a non-denominationist?"

"I believe in my faith, my Church," she said. "I believe all religions have slivers or glimpses of the truth, but that my faith holds the complete plate of light in its tray. This doesn't mean my faith makes me better than you or anyone else, but I feel that mine is the one true religion." She ignored her sister's mumble about her 'eccentricity' and smiled pleasantly at the lion.

"An interesting way to put it," he said with a renewed smile.

Olivia gripped her fingers on the arm of her chair and fought the urge to sigh. The last thing she wanted was to listen to an armchair debate about the world's religions. She got enough of that as a child. "What can you tell us about him after he kind of went loopy," she snapped.

They looked at her both snarling and bearing their teeth, but not much beyond that. "Before he really went off the deep end, he told me that he had received some kind of email that told him how he could become enormously wealthy. He asked if I wanted in, but after he explained it, I realized it was criminal, and begged him not to proceed with the plan."

"Did he tell you want the plan was?" Carmen asked.

"To steal a large ruby from an Australian tribe, construct some kind of super weapon, and use it against shipping industries. But Charlie became wrapped around the idea of using it to create a small empire. Then another email came by, and he again asked for help, something about two small diskettes, that would create absolute destructive power if combined with his weapon. I again begged him to reconsider, but he hung up on me, and the legal authorities I warned seemed to think I was a little kook. I nearly lost my business because of them."

Carmen frowned, and was glad to see that her sister was mirroring her. "Didn't you go to Interpol with this kind of news? The crime you are talking about seemed liked it was outside of Turkish authority hands."

"That is exactly the authorities I mentioned," Asid said, "it was as if, I were the criminal for bringing it up in the first place."

There was a long silence and the girls looked at each other again. "You said Charlie the Great tried to get you involved with this, did you show you the email?" Carmen asked her heart racing against her chest. The room seemed to spin out of control, bookshelves, window panes; his large pine desk all seemed to flop around like a fish out of water.

"He faxed me the letter," he said, nodding. "I considered burning it, the symbol on it looked very evil, but something told me to save it, just in case." He reached down, and rummaged through his desk, until he found it, and handed it over to them. "I truly do not know what you young ladies have to do with any of this, but if you would heed my advice, I suggest that you leave well enough alone."

Carmen looked at the image on the note and her color left her body. The eyes on the pitch black figure were fiery red, and the large hateful wings looked like they were trying to reach out and grab her by the neck. The words were in hieroglyphs, and then translated into Egyptian, and numerous other languages. There was a high pitched buzzing sound as she tried to make sense of the rubbish she read, and then darkness enveloped her body.

When she opened her eyes, she was on a soft white bed, and her sister, Asid, and his secretary were bent over her, with worried glances. "How long was I out?" she asked, realizing she had fainted.

"An hour," the lion said soothingly. "I suggest that you lay here and wait for a doctor, or I would, but your sister told me everything about you two." He looked over at the other woman and blinked, turning his gaze back at Carmen. "Please, I understand what you are going through. I hate to think that my old friend is responsible for harming your family, but this whole thing just reeks of evil; and not the normal kind either, but one straight from Hell itself. I plead with you to leave this alone."

"If you know who we are, then you know why we can't just leave well enough alone," Carmen said with a weak smile.

"Then I pray to Allah that you are both safe in your journeys," he said, tears running down his cheek.

"And I pray to the Lord my God that you are kept safe from the evil that was within our presence an hour ago," Carmen said with a strengthening smile.

The girls said their good byes and headed to their next destination, hoping to further piece together this puzzle, and bring their family back together.

_**S L Y**_

Sly could only lie on the cold, stone floor, his vision flickering in and out as he labored to breathe. It had been twenty minutes since she had left, after she had kissed him, and he was feeling as lousy as if he had gone one hundred rounds with the champ. He felt bile rise up in his throat again, but he didn't panic this time. He had mainly been coughing up dry husks now, which were clinging to his fur. Of course that should have been bad news, it meant he was severely dehydrated, but at least he wouldn't choke to death on his own vomit. _So this is how I exit. Lying behind bars, with my friends not even knowing where I am. Bentley, Murray, I am so very sorry._

He knew that Carmelita and her sister were just across the room from him, in their own bars. He could from time to time, see their lips move, he could see the worry in their eyes, and inwardly he had to chuckle. _I always knew you cared, Inspector Fox. I'm just sorry I never got a chance to show you how much I care for you._

"Come on Ringtail," Carmelita cried. Are you going to let this be the end of the great Sly Cooper, of the Cooper Dynasty? Beaten by a lousy card shark and his cronies?" All anger and hatred and frustration were removed from her tone. There was something new there, not new exactly, but something that no longer cared about hiding. "Get up; find a way to unlock your cage! You've done it before!" Each word was met with the pounding of a distraught fist, hoping it would encourage him to move. "Sly, please, I'm begging you; don't let it end like this."

"He can't hear you, _hermana_," Elisa said bitterly. She didn't know Sly as well as Carmelita did, but she knew her sister well. How it hurt her to see her baby sister like this, so full of anguish, not able to bear seeing the man she cared so deeply for lie there, dying.

"Damn that scorpion to hell," Carmelita hissed, her body shaking with new found rage. "I'll see her dead for this."

"Use your energy for more constructive means, little sister; you can't very well strangle Nyoko to death, if you can't get out of these bars." She would have said more, but a small click and the drop of a pin hitting the floor caught her attention, and the sight she saw almost made her wet her pants.

"I'm going to save him," Gabriel said, opening his cage. He looked different, stronger. Though he was still nine it almost looked like the boy had aged fifteen years in the space of a few hours.

"Gus, how did you manage that?" she asked.

"Never mind that," Carmelita said. "Get us out of here, and then find some place safe to hide." Hope began to burn in her chest. If she could manage to find the antidote, give it to Sly, then there could be hope.

The boy walked over to Sly's cage, unlocked it and then did the same for theirs. "I'm going to get the antidote, stay with him," he barked.

"Now wait a minute, _hermano,_" they both snapped,

"I'm the smallest, so I can sneak around a lot easier than the two of you, if the guards come back down here, I won't be a match to fight them off, but you two will."

"You are not going, Gabriel," Carmelita snapped, grasping the boy by his wrist. To her surprise he did a back flip and slipped from her grasp, dashing up the prison steps, and out of the door. There was another click, and he disappeared from sight.

"I'll be back," were the only words he said before vanishing like a … thief.

"Oh my God," Carmelita crooned. "Elisa why are you looking so calm about this; our little brother is out there, with those monsters! God knows what could happen to him!"

"True, but he _is_ a Fox, and not just any Fox, but one from our side of the family tree. He's grown Carmelita," she said. "I don't like this any more than you, but if there is any chance he can get that antidote, and be back here safe and sound, it's because of who he is." She looked at her sister and raised her hands. "He's our only hope now."

**_Man I must love cliff hangers! Oh by the way, a helicopter saved me from certain death when I had fallen off that cliff at the end of chapter ten. Oh by the way, for those of you who have not clicked on my writer's name, and thus do not know, I am 30, going on 31 this March 7th. And yes I am still single sighes WHY AM I STILL SINGLE? LOL. I hope this "old fart" is keeping you guys amused, LOL. Course I refuse to be old, I absolutely refuse to be, so I guess you can ignore the old fart statement. Anyway time for some reviewer responses!_**

_**Divine one: Let's start with you first! Okay good question about Rose Marie! To be perfectly honest (you did want honesty, right LOL) I'm not quite sure. I've played both angles and I'm not sure which way I want to take it at this point. Guess we'll figure it out together! Anyway I put the letters SLY in bold print, italic, and underlined, in BushSeed writing, with a type size of twenty, so hopefully that will be read by now as scene breakers. Sorry again for the problem. And thanks for the praise and love.**_

**_Kaiseronni: I understand. Not a problem. I just want to thank you for the love, and look forward to hearing from you whenever you get a chance! The next chapters after this should probably be in late December, to January, depending on the schedules of everyone in my family (mom, sister, young siblings and nephew and niece's school schedules, etc. No wife or anything. SOBS LOUDER I'M STILL SINGLE! ;) ). _**

_**Cooper fan: That's okay, I'm one third Norwegian, one third Scottish, and one third English, so I can be a little goofy too. Anyway thanks for the love, and to the question, libido means that someone has a high sexual atmosphere around them. They're really considered hot. Does that answer your question?**_

**_Shark: Damn dude or dudette those were really harsh words you had for Olivia! I didn't mean for her to come out that prissy! Actually she is a very good actress; she's just a little immature. She's also a virgin, but doesn't like that to go around, so shush! ;). Thanks for the love! What do you think of these next group of updates? Oh, as to a numbat, its kind of like a small anteater, mixed with a squirrel, with a mask and strips almost like a raccoon, and it's a marsupial, so its like a koala bear too, or a kangaroo. You know, since it's an Australian animal, the best one to say what it is, is Divine One. Take it away girl!_**

**_Heiduska: To my number one fan of this Sly Story. Sorry for making you cry, I didn't mean it. Hmmm, gives her a box of chocolates, dedicates his Sly Cooper Christmas fic 'The Little Match Girl' to her I hope that might help. Like I told you in my email, and as you read in my response to Kaiseronni, my schedule is not my own. Thank you for all the love, I hope you enjoy these chapters just as much. And you are very welcome for my kind words to your story! I meant each and every word! Everyone, you should go to her story after your done reading mine and read it, it's really good. It's called Long Ride Home. Seriously it is a Sly Cooper fic worth the read! YAY promotions of other people's excellent work!_**

_**Mistress Dizzy: Okay, you're new. Sorry for making you whimper. Thanks for adding me to your favorites too, and your compliments! Murray is coming back next chapter, so that cliff hanger is going to be answered, and to top it off, he is reunited with Christian. **_

**_Okay, that about does it! Thanks for all the love and support and one last thing I have to announce. I have decided to make this 40 chapters long, and as the second half begins, it brings new characters along with it! Two of whom I based on two certain lovely young ladies who read this story! Just keep in mind that I'm not familiar with you all personally, so even though I base characters on you, it may not completely act just like you. I hope that's fair enough warning. _**

_**Ruta Valkoinen is a 23 year old artic fox who works with Interpol, and lives in Finland. Yep you guessed it, I have created her based on Heiduska!**_

_**Gwendolyn S Crane is a 26 year old crane who is a college professor with certain knowledge of this new group of baddies coming up. I based her on a certain history buff who likes my story. Yep, The Divine One!**_

**_Haydan Mac Callum is a 31 year old Komodo Dragon who is a defrocked Catholic priest who also has a certain knowledge of dark fraternal groups hiding in the shadows. He is based on me! No I am not a defrocked priest for those who wonder, lol. _**

**_The rest of you do not get discouraged. As I write more stories, and my personal Sly universe gets larger, each one of you will get your own character! I just don't want to overdo it with original character ness in this first fic. So there's the good news, see ya all in the next chapter gang! It's going to be fun! _**


	16. Grave Returns and Training

_**Ziggy's Corner: Okay this is chapter sixteen! Four more chapters and we'll be half way done with this story!**_

Murray could feel the sweat flow from his body as he leapt from one stone to the next, avoiding his opponent's deadly fists. He knew that he was no match for an all out boxing match with this bully, but he could still out smart him. The pink hippo wasn't as smart as Sly or especially Bentley, but he was smarter than Alexandr. The large, red rhino was nothing but muscle and muscle on top of muscle. All Murray had to do was dodge his fists and then attack when he got tired.

"You are lazy," Alexandr snapped. "You've been doing nothing but acting like a ballerina for the last forty minutes. Why don't you just stand still and fight me?"

"I don't have to throw punches to fight you," Murray said, quickly dodging another punch. The hippo dodged toward a large boulder and pressed his back against it, moving it from its resting place. It budged, and started to move, but Alexandr realized what he was doing, and leapt away just as it fell. "I can out smart you."

Alexandr laughed and leapt from the air toward the hippo, his fist tightening. "You can't stop me from getting that boy, Murray," he roared. "It's fate; he belongs to Charlie the Great!"

"Christian and his brother do not belong to anyone but their parent's," Murray snapped, blocking the punch, slamming his foot into the rhino's gut. It stunned Alexandr, but it didn't work for long. "I won't let you hurt that boy, or his brother," Murray growled. He slammed another foot into the rhino, and another, each time backing him up, but not stopping him completely.

"What a fool, a flabby, slow witted, idealistic slob of a fool, it's no wonder you friends abandoned you," Alexandr snarled, snapping his hood and goggles from his head. "No wonder they don't care about you enough that they almost left you in that orphanage."

"You don't know anything," Murray shouted. "The only reason Sly and Bentley thought about leaving me in the orphanage was because of that family that was interested in me. True if it wasn't for their car crash, I might never had really known what great friends Sly and Bentley were, and I might have known what a "normal" family was like. But the fact is, that they loved me enough that they wanted me to be happy, and away from all this danger." The two old mates were now clutched in hand to hand grip, testing the other's strength.

"Yeah, sad about that accident," Alexandr laughed. "Surprising how many people can't get control of their car when a certain someone cuts their breaks." He smiled, and looked deep into the eyes of his favorite victim.

"You," the hippo mumbled. Ice ran through his body and he shook his head. "You!" With every bit of might he could muster, Murray thrust forward, and caught Alexandr off balance. "You murderer! Why would you do that? Why!"

"Hey, from the looks of it, I did you a favor, just think how much fun you would have missed if you had been adopted," Alexandr groaned. "Of course Clockwerk's big bag of gold did help me make my mind up in that decision, but the truth of the matter is that you simply didn't belong to those people, and they were fools for thinking you did. They should have adopted someone who was bound to be a success instead."

"How do you know Clockwerk?" the hippo roared.

"Puh-lease, do you really think that Clockwerk knew about Sly and wouldn't keep an eye on him all those years? Who else do you think alerted the authorities when you three went on your little robbery sprees, or picked a pocket? Who do you think it was that brought your files to Interpol? If Clockwerk was to know what kind of potential his rival would have, he had to push all the necessary buttons." Alexandr shrugged. "So yeah, I sabotaged your little hopes of being adopted. How does that make you feel, you loser?"

Something in Murray snapped. He was always peaceful and gentle, unless a thug got in his way, and even then it was nothing like this. It wasn't even vengeance that was driving him now. "A success? Really, a success? Someone who works for not one, but two underhanded crook, not even one of his top cronies, and you call yourself a success?" He grit his teeth and heaved forward, startling Alexandr. Slowly he bent the rhino's fingers back, listening to bones snap. "You are a murderer, a bully, and a failure. I'm not the loser Alexandr, you are!" He kept the pressure on and could see fear begin to immerge from his foes eyes. "Do you know why? Because you are the one with no friends, with no one to care for you, because you would never let them!" He picked Alexandr up and slammed a fist into his chest, "That's for Sly!" A foot into his legs dropped him to the ground yet again, "That's for Bentley!" He clenched his hands together, to make a manmade mallet and swung it, "That's for those poor people who you massacred in your quest for gold!" He let the battered rhino fall to the ground, and preformed a thunder flop, sending flying into a mountain, and down to the ground again. "And that's for me!" Murray stomped toward the rhino and picked him up, "Light's out, Alexandr."

What he saw in those eyes made him drop the fiend yet again, and shudder. Alexandr's eyes were flaming red, and seemed almost hallow. His body swayed one way and then another, as if he was listening to some kind of music. But it was his voice that was most haunting. It was deep, as hallow as his eyes, and it echoed through the valley as if they were in a large, empty concert hall. "I've failed," it said. Alexandr dropped to the ground face first, and when Murray turned him over, he found the body of what looked like a teenage version of the rhino, shriveled and decaying.

Murray screeched, and felt bile race up his throat. He rushed from the body, got into the car, and drove off. It felt like he was driving forever, fleeing something so dark and evil that it made demons flee in its malevolence. His heart pounded, and then a little while later, he felt sleep overtake his body, and his head dropped on the wheel of the car.

_**S L Y**_

When Murray did finally wake up, he was sleeping on a cot, covered by what looked like either a tent, or a mud hut. It seemed like the very late afternoon, and as he shot up, he could see that around the cot was a circle of salt. "What's going on?"

"You are awake, I am very pleased," came a voice from behind him. The hippo spun in the direction of the voice, and he stared at an old Aborigine.

"Wait, you're the chief of the Tricoli tribe," Murray said trying to rise to his feet. His muscles ached, and he dropped onto his butt.

The old man smiled and nodded his head. "Yes," he said. "You can call me Eko," the Aborigine stood up and examined him. "The boy definitely has a gift, he could sense your distress, and told us exactly where to find you."

"The boy? Wait, you mean Christian?" Murray tore away from Eko and looked deep into his eyes.

"Yes, we have been training him for a couple of hours, and during his training he could feel your fear, and told us we had to go to you at once." He chuckled. "It's not every day you tell a 'chosen one' no." He looked the hippo over and took a step back. "You have been in the presence of a very great evil."

"I don't know about that," the hippo said. "I fought a former orphan I used to live with a little while ago, but then something happened, I don't quite remember what it was, and I don't think I want to."

"No you don't," Eko said. He turned and examined him yet again. "Believe me, you don't. But enough of that, you must go to the training field with the boy, and begin your own tests."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, back up! Training tests, look I'm grateful you took care of him, but …," Murray frowned and leaned forward. "Did you call Christian, a 'chosen one'?"

Eko smiled and crossed his arms. "Yes, one of two of them."

**_S L Y_**

He soon learned that the other chosen one was Gabriel, who was off on his own part of the test, to retrieve the Ruby. It sounded odd, but considering what he had just faced, what he could remember anyway, it wasn't the oddest thing in the world. But sitting here, in a tiny thong, that barely covered his tushie, _this_ was the oddest thing.

"Why exactly am I being trained?" he asked.

Eko put a finger to his lips and shushed him. "Meditate, clear you mind and think of things that are of the purest in nature."

Murray frowned and looked at him as if he were drunk. _How the heck am I supposed to clear my mind, and then have pure things in my mind? _He shook his head, and looked at the little boy. He seemed peaceful, calm and serene.

How was he even supposed to do this anyway? He was too big to cross his legs the way that Eko wanted him too, and the thong was riding up between his butt cheeks. _Great, I get a wedgie while smelling incense. I feel like a high school student that just got attacked by the whole football team, and the local church's choir corps. _

"When you can feel the purity of your environment, then you can absorb it into your being, fill your soul with it, and use it to your advantage. The Ruby's life energy burns with that purity, and it calls all those who have it to it." Eko said, smiling at the hippo's discomfort. "Forget what you know Murray, let that go, and you will feel the power of the Ruby, its true power, not the false energy that Charlie has absorbed from it."

"So, it has two kinds of energy?" He slunk as Eko again put his finger to his lips, and looked straight ahead.

"Yes, a bright graceful energy, and a dark core, one that summoned the darkness in  
Charlie's heart. It was how he managed to take it from us." He smiled again, "Yes I can tell what you are thinking, if Christian and his brother are the chosen ones, why put you through this? Well there are two reasons, one to purge the energy that the darkness you encountered flooded your body with, and two; Christian needs someone to look up to, a guide if you will. Who better than you, who he has spent the most time with between all the members of the Cooper Gang?"

_So then I'm supposed to be his kind of mentor?_

"Yes, that is correct," Eko said, clapping his hands. "You started when you explained your position of good and evil to the boy. It was fate that you would be chosen to guide him on his quest. Because the boys are twins, your influence also affects Gabriel, who feels his brother's spirit."

He asked them to stand up, and lead them to a very spiky area of his valley. "I ask you now to take the test of flight, you've passed the test of clarity just now, so this should be a little more challenging," he smiled yet again, "or maybe it won't."

"I'm sorry, but if hippo's were meant to fly, we wouldn't have been created so large," Murray said. _Man could you imagine the panic of a flying hippo in need of a potty?_

"He means we should use our clarity of thought, to pass this test. To see things before they happen," Christian said with a giggle.

"You mean, kind of like insight," the hippo said. The boy and Eko nodded. _Wow, this mentoring stuff is kind of easy._ He could hear Eko laugh and he squinted his eyes. The path looked almost impossible to pass, but there had to be a way. Turning to Christian he shrugged. "What do you think?"

The boy smiled. "I helped you with the clarity thing; this is kind of a test you need to help me with."

"Oh… great," he gulped. He looked at the field, half way expecting to see some kind of pink sparkle, that would lead him the right direction, but there was nothing. A few seconds later he blocked everything from his mind, and looked again. He could see their crushed bodies, their bodies flung into the air by flinging axes, their bodies being squashed by blocks, and then he realized the puzzle. He smiled. "Follow me," he told the boy.

Murray bent forward and dashed straight forward, completely forward. He had expected there to be some kind of booby trap, that there was a pattern that needed to be followed to avoid the deadly machinations. And in a way there was, but not like he expected.

Eko clapped his hands as they reached the other side and bowed. "Very well done, for as there is many shades of black and white, many paths of gray, the only way along the narrow, lonely path of justice and pure light is a simple straight path. You've done well."

Murray gasped and groaned, his lips spread out in a wide grin, and he had to blush as the boy at his side coughed and waved his hand back and forth.

"Tell that to his ingestion," Christian muttered.

"Sorry buddy," Murray muttered, still smiling. He looked over at Eko, and the old man was rolling with laughter.

"Very good, now as to your next exercise …," he began.

**_S L Y_**

At the end of the day, the two of them stood in front of Eko and his whole tribe. He nodded, not smiling, with a solemn look on his face. "Now we send you off, bring back our Ruby, and bring us peace to our land. And may Heaven protect you from the darkness that would swallow our world whole."

"Thank you Eko," Murray said. "We won't let you done."

"That's a promise," the boy said, standing next to Murray.

"We will keep this disk, as assurance that you do not, so that it may not fall into the hands of those who would do anyone harm," Eko said. "I have faith in both of you that you will succeed beyond any measure of doubt."

The two bowed, and turned to leave the camp. Unaware that they were being watched by a pair of very engrossed eyes. "So, there's more than one disk. How very interesting."

_**Who owns those pair of eyes? And what do they want with the disk? I guess you'll just have to keep reading! LOL unless you want to take a guess at who those eyes belong to. Some of you might actually get it right! Okay, on to chapter 17! Kool, we are only one more chapter away until the start of the big fight with Charlie (chapter 18). I hope everyone is having fun!**_


	17. Gathering and Preparations

_**Ziggy's Corner: Okay chapter 17! By the way, My Avatar Fiction, Kiss and Tell is one review away from getting a tie with this fiction. Wow, look out Everything's Relative fans, you might just lose your silver medal.**_

Carmen and Olivia walked through the door of the building, and closed it gently behind them. They were in Greece now, just a few hours after they had been in Turkey, and were now checking out a lead in this country. From what she had gathered, by her mother's information, Carmelita had disappeared nearly two days now, starting when she hung up the phone on Friday night, up until now, just an hour or two from midnight in Paris.

"Okay, so we know the what, when, where, and probably the how, but what about the why?" Olivia grumbled.

"That's what we're doing here," Carmen smiled, happy to be dressed back in her nunly robes. "You claim to be an internet freak, so you can hack into this system and find out what we need to know."

Olivia looked around the room, small and dark, with plans' leaves and branches hanging from the ceiling and drooping to the floor. She was also happy to be back in her regular clothing, and relished the gawking stares from men as she pranced through their numbers in the streets. "So why the hell did we have to go to Greece to get this information?"

"You do know where we are, don't you?" Carmen snapped, slapping her in the back of her head for cursing. "We raised too much suspicion to go to an Interpol office in Turkey, so we headed here, the next best thing."

"That explains all the espionage, but do you really think that father would have approved of us, sneaking into an office like this, without proper authorization?"

Carmen looked at her sister, and blinked. "You really think with all this oddity that's been happening that he would care? Mother told me that he did the same kind of stunt earlier today. Something is not right, there is something pulling the strings. And we have to find out what it is. Besides," she said with a sly smile, "you used to hack into Interpol computers all the time when you were little, what's the difference now?"

"Someone with a worse attitude than father's officer is likely to find out, and take his or her vengeance."

"Family is worth that chance, do you not think?" Carmen asked her tone dark.

"Must you really ask me that question?" Olivia asked, with a raised eyebrow.

Carmen stared at her little sister and sighed. "Must my punishment on this world forever be your shepherd? Your keeper!"

"That's what older sisters are for, right?" Olivia quipped.

"Not forever! Yes I should watch out for you, but to constantly babysit you? Grow the hell up! What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you being so stubborn? Can't you think of anybody but yourself, damn you!" Each word grew louder and louder, until she was screaming. Tears ran down her cheeks, and she felt like her head was going to explode.

"Carmen, you're swearing," Olivia said with a cute grin. "Not much of a very good nun if you can do that?" She began laughing, but was cut down by a fist from her sister, who turned to the computer and began typing buttons frantically. "For God's sake, sister, why would you even give up your life for them? All our family has done is hold us down."

"If you can say that, after all we've done, been through, then get the hell out, you seem to have forgotten everything good that ever happened to you with our family. Yes, little sister, there were good moments that even you had. All you have to do, is look away from your selfishness, and remember the past."

"My, my, how touching," a very harsh, Cockneyed voice cooed. It seemed to come from the computer. The girls looked and watched as the same evil symbol that they had seen on the page fill out on the computer screen.

"What in the world?" Olivia asked.

"Not this world, but the next, really," the harsh voice said. "I truly must thank the two of you, I never thought anyone would follow the breadcrumbs they left to bring me back to this other side yet again." The image faded and a purplish pink panther appeared on the screen. She smiled, and cocked her head.

"What _are_ you?" Carmen asked.

"And what do you mean by _they_?" Olivia snapped.

"My, oh my, so many questions, I would answer them, but I really must conserve my strength now that I'm awake again." The panther smiled and let loose a smug cackle. "Well, I suppose one answer wouldn't hurt. I used to work with your sister, Carmelita at Interpol. Before she betrayed and _killed _me."

"Carmelita didn't kill anyone," Olivia snapped. She stunned herself and Carmen by her harsh reaction.

"Oh but she did, or at least she destroyed my physical body, my mind I was able to download into a computer after some kind of voice told me to. And I've waited for this day ever since." Now they could see a paw stroke her chin as she smiled. "I say, I wonder how long it's been since that night? Well, no matter."

"Neyla," Carmen said softly. "You're Neyla. But you betrayed Carmelita, tried to possess Clockwerk's body, tried to kill everyone!"

"I see your sister didn't waste anytime poisoning your minds against me," Neyla growled. "But that's the price of family I suppose." Her dark eyes twinkled. "Now that I'm awake again, all I have to do is wait for their next orders, and I do suppose we will met one another, when I get a new body that is. Until then ..," she cackled, and disappeared before they could ask any other questions.

"Evil energy from the netherworld, a card shark with overly ambitious intentions, and now a dead treacherous coworker talking to us from the computer," Olivia glared at Carmen. "Gee, sis, thanks for the glorious holiday you've taken me on."

"Olivia?" Carmen said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up for once," the nun snapped. She shivered from head to toe, and knew this was only the beginning. Something unearthly was pulling a lot of strings, and for what reason, she could only guess it could only be answered by one word… apocalyptic.

"Wait, where are you going?" Olivia asked.

"Whatever is going on, I think we'll find the answer in Australia." She turned to her sister, "If you want to come, find, if not, I don't really care. But this nightmare is going to end tonight."

**_S L Y_**

Gabriel did not know what had overcome him, but he sensed an energy that was so great he knew he just had to follow his instincts. He passed through the guards as if someone had painted a line for him to follow, so they wouldn't even see him. Hall by hall, room by room, the nine year old made his way farther and farther into the headquarters, until something told him to stop and open a small silver door.

He slipped through it, and latched it tight, focusing his eyes to the dark until he could finally find a power switch. In front of him were dozen's of jars with strange liquid in them. He smiled when he came across a group of them called, "Charlie's collection of exotic poison antidotes". He came across a scorpion poison, and snatched it from the shelf.

"Bingo!" he said with a large smile. It didn't last for long. A massive hairy paw grabbed his wrist, and held it tight.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Doctor Goren snarled, squeezing the boy's wrist. "A little thief?" he pulled the boy to a counter and held his arm down tight. "Tell me boy, have you ever been to Saudi Arabia? They have a special way of dealing with thieves that I think is the perfect punishment."

Gabriel felt ice run through his body as the light shone on the cold blade that the hyena was grabbing of the counter. He could only close his eyes and scream as the evil doctor raised the blade, and began to bring it down.

**_S L Y_**

Ivan Fox knew something was wrong, he could feel it in his gut. And he knew better than not to share it with his wife. He came to their room, told her everything and looked deep into her eyes. "I have to go, something is very odd, and I have a feeling I just have to go to Australia."

"Before you say another word, or trying to argue with me, know that I've already packed and bought two tickets to Australia," Marie snapped. She smiled and put her hands on his hips, as if daring her husband to argue the point.

Ivan could only laugh. "I figured you'd do this." He sighed. "Fine, together then. Whatever is transpiring down in Australia…,"

"It'll end tonight," she finished for him. He nodded his head.

**_S L Y_**

Miguel looked over at his sister's apartment, mentally quoting the five first rules of a scene investigator. _Don't touch anything, don't touch anything, don't touch anything, don't touch anything, and don't touch anything. _It was driving him batty, and finally, after hours of just looking at things he had enough. He pickup up his cell phone, dialed the airport and registered a flight to Australia.

"This isn't going to help you much," his brother, Ivan said.

Miguel looked at his older brother, "I don't care. I have to do something, and just because you're a priest, don't you dare try to stop me."

Ivan looked like a combination of his father and his father's father. He smiled and shook his head. "Well, if I can't stop you, then at least I can go with you to keep you out of trouble."

"And what about Gracia?" Ivan snapped. They turned to look at their fourteen year old sister, who was watching a show on her game pod.

Ivan sighed thoughtfully and closed his eyes. "Well, I guess we'll either have to kill her or bring her with us."

The teenager smiled, "Cool, either way gets me out of my homework," she said without ever looking up at them.

"And since murder is a mortal sin, and you have a major geography test next week, I guess we'll have no choice to take you and your homework along with us," the twenty six year old priest chuckled.

Gracia Yoana Constance Fox looked up, her dyed purple looks shining in her older sister's living room light as she stared at her brothers. "That's so wrong on so many different angles," she moaned.

"Part of being a big brother," Ivan chuckled.

So it was settled. He didn't like bringing them along, but he wasn't about to overrule his own older brother. Whatever was going on in Australia, they were going to be a part of it. It was only four hours since father had called; it was only three o'clock here in France. So whatever was going on, in that country. It would end tonight.

He looked over at his sister, and felt his jaw drop as she opened the fridge and take out a soda, opening it up. "Aw come on. Don't touch anything means, don't touch anything!" he wailed. She looked at him and stuck out a studded tongue. Ivan looked at his younger siblings and chuckled, silently saying a prayer for all of their safety.

_**S L Y**_

He was uneasy as he swam back and forth in his aquarium. The color of his water went between pitch black and dark red. "Nyoko, Dr. Goren," he roared. When only the ninja appeared, Charlie the Great felt his eyes explode. "Something has happened!" he screamed. "To hell with the chips, I want that weapon operational now!"

"Charlie-San," she began.

"I don't want to hear that Cooper has been put behind bars, things are out of place. I can feel them! And I won't be beaten now!" He edged toward the glass and glowered at her. "I will not, do you hear me! Activate the weapon now, and aim at the capital of Australia. And prepare my aquarium for combat. What ever happens here, it is going to end tonight."

She had never seen him like this, and for once, she was frightened of him, and whatever possessed him. She bowed, and nodded. "Yes Charlie-San. It will be done."

The evil shark looked at her and grinned so demonically it would have made Satan piss his pants.

_**Okay. That's the end of this chapter. It all comes down to this, a grand battle royale for the fate of Australia. The beginning of a three part fight between Sly, Carmelita against Charlie the Great begins next chapter. The Fox family gathers to encounter the threat, and the twins will realize their destiny. And when the smoke clears, we'll be only HALF way through the story! Dude and dudettes, let's get ready to rumble.**_


	18. Escape and Showdown, part 1

_**Ziggy's Corner: You guys aren't going to believe this; you're tied for silver metal now! From going from having the gold for a brief couple of minutes to nearly being pushed to bronze! Oh well, I love all my fans equally, Lol. So are you ready for the beginning of the fight? This chapter is going to be a short one too, and the fight is kind of just a passing of words before the action gets going in chapter nineteen, but I hope it's good anyway. I couldn't just end this submission month with seventeen and Gabriel about to get his hand cut off, that would drive most of you, especially Heiduska, nuts! Okay so on with the story!**_

The blade swooshed down to the boy's hand, the little fox clenching his eyes and bracing himself for the white hot pain that was going to flush through his whole body, when the two of them heard a thump from behind and the twirl of something in the air. Gabriel swallowed and turned to look behind just a few seconds before Goren, and felt his lips spread into a smile.

"G'day there," a feminine voice said behind the hyena. "Ever thing that maybe you should start picking of people who are the same size as you?"

"What?" Doctor Goren turned with lightning speed and reached out with his paw to grabbed the numbat, but as quick as he was, the female master thief was faster. With a twirl of her twin Katana blades, she grabbed him by his belt buckle, and hoisted him up in the air down on the floor, his skull making a sickening cracking sound. Not to be too overconfident of her victory, she preformed a spinning round house kick and sent the doctor's body skating across the floor, to a few tables across the room.

The female master thief leapt into the air and swung herself across the room using a balance beam on the ceiling, and landed by the tables. With a few flashes of movement, her hands quickly made wooden and steel bars in which to hold the mad doctor, and then turned to the boy.

"And you would be Christian or Gabriel?" she asked.

At first the boy could do nothing but stare at this thief, amazed by her prowess and agility. When Sly had fought the hyena at his headquarters, he had had a difficult time in keeping up with him, but here, this thief had managed to defeat the doctor in less than a minute. "Wow," he muttered.

"Odd, I had no idea that there was a brother named, 'Wow'," Morgan Skye said with a slim grin on her face. She walked up to the boy and looked him over, just to make sure he was okay. "Where are your sisters? Where's Sly?"

He snapped back to reality as he heard those words and names, and looked down at the poison he still held in his little hand. "Sly was poisoned; he's dying in a cell they kept us in!" He saw the shock and worry in her face. When she asked if he remembered where they had been kept, he couldn't remember, at first.

Then that same feeling of strength filled him, and he nearly seemed to glow. "Wait," he said, his voice echoing softly. Thoughts and visions crossed his eyes and he blinked. "I remember."

Morgan Skye grabbed the boy and lifted him onto her shoulders. She could tell he was amazed by her speed and strength, and she smiled. "Then hold on tight, because as you have seen, I'm very fast. Just point the way and I'll get us there."

_**S L Y**_

Bentley and Rose Marie had just finished going over the plans to break into the fortress when they heard a knock at the door of the van. The turtle edged over to it slowly and looked at the beautiful creature still sitting at the table. She nodded her head and he smiled, slowly going into la la land again.

Rose Marie nodded a second time, and seeing him slip into a goofy position just giggled and made a motion with her hands as if she was turning a door knob. "You do remember how to do that, right?"

Bentley shook himself from his stupor and opened the door, yelping out so loud that the female turtle leapt to her feet and reached for something in her purse when she realized that Bentley was showing signs of joy. He stepped back and a weary but physically okay hippo and a small fox cub walked into the van.

"Where the heck have you two been?" Bentley reproached, shaking his finger at Murray. "Do you have any idea how worried sick I've been!"

"It looks like you've been dealing pretty well," Murray said with a deep chuckle. He motioned to Rose Marie and smiled. "Whose your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Bentley protested a little too loudly and quickly. Fearing that he might have insulted her he turned to look at her reaction and she giggled.

"I think just knowing one another for a couple of hours isn't enough to constitute the title of 'boyfriend/girlfriend'. Although it might with the title of just 'friend'." She held out her hand and shook the hippo's hand and introduced herself. When she reached for the fox's hand, the boy looked a little skittish and was reluctant. He only agreed to take it when they encouraged him not to be shy.

Then they all sat down and shared notes, going over everything that had transpired in the last couple of hours. "This is amazing," Bentley said when he had finished hearing Christian and Murray's story. And a bit complexing too. I mean here we thought that Charlie the Great was the ultimate villain and now there could be something else out there?"

"I don't know about that," Rose Marie said. "I find that there's not much that's claimed to be 'supernatural' that can't be explained by science. As far as we should be concerned, Charlie the Great is the villain of the story."

"None the less, I have a job to do," Christian said. "Gabriel has already started his part, and now I have to begin mine." He looked up at Murray who shook his head.

"Don't be in such a rush," he chided. "That's what the lesson of the valley was about." He could feel Bentley look at him as if he was weird, and he knew the turtle half expected the boy to respond, 'Yes, Master'. "Let's just listen to them for a moment, we didn't have a plan, they were almost finished coming up with one, perhaps this is meant to be."

"I suppose you are right, but this really doesn't feel right," the boy said. Still when it came to his sisters and his brothers, he wasn't going to let anything mess up their safety.

_**S L Y**_

Just as she said, it didn't take them long to get to the cell, bust if open and get to a very graying Sly. Morgan ignored Carmelita's eyes as she walked to the raccoon and bent down to him to investigate how serious the problem was. He was barely breathing, sweating all over and she feared his heart was going to go into cardiac arrest at any minute. "It says he has to swallow the anti-venom," she said reading the bottle.

"In case you haven't noticed, he can barely breathe, how is he supposed to swallow the cure?" Carmelita snapped. She took a step back as Morgan smirked.

"He'll need help," she said with a chuckle. She opened the bottle and put it to her lips.

"Whoa, hold on!" the Interpol officer snapped, grabbing the thief's arm. "What do you think you are doing?"

"What does it look like?" she asked. "If we try to pour it down his throat, he could choke to death. We need someone to trickle it down his throat, while someone strokes his throat to make him swallow."

"Okay, that's just gross," Gabriel groaned. Elisa playfully slapped her brother in the back of his head so hard he saw stars. "Well it is. I mean how many times is he going to get kissed tonight?"

"If anyone is going to do this, it's going to be me," Carmelita snapped, reaching for the antidote.

"We don't have time to argue, and I have the antidote," Morgan protested, pulling it away.

"Great now their going to fight to see who gets to kiss him," the boy sighed. Again his sister slapped his head.

"You took him from me, I just want one last chance to be with him," Morgan said.

"Excuse me, I took him from you? I don't know what you're talking about. I don't want him."

"Liar," both the thief and her older sister quipped.

"Okay, I want him, but behind bars," Carmelita snapped.

"Oh this is stupid," Elisa groaned, watching Sly's condition worsen with the second. She reached over and snatched the poison from Morgan's hand, and thrust it into Carmelita's. "You," she said pointing at Morgan, "get a grip, remember what you had and be happy. And you," she snarled looking at her sister, "stop struggling with your emotions and just kiss the poor fool before he keels over."

"But," Carmelita began.

"Carmelita Montoya Fox I swear to you that if I don't see any action right now, I'm throwing that bottle down your throat and forcing your lips onto his, now which is it going to be?"

Neither woman liked it, but they knew that to keep fighting was to sign Sly's death warrant. Morgan took her position, and Carmelita poured the liquid into her mouth, ignoring the strong fiery taste attacking her tongue, and swooped down on Sly in a way that she had always wanted to, in a way she only did in her dreams.

Their lips met, and she nearly forgot she had the anti-venom in her mouth. Slowly her lips parted, and the liquid rushed from her mouth to his. She could feel his breath enter her mouth, warm but slowly cooling. Her heart beat against her chest as she held him tight, her eyes closed her eyes folded down to ignore Gabriel's grossing out. Carmelita could feel the liquid in his mouth, quickly turning to gluey honey like stickiness, and she panicked. They'd left it out in the open for too long. If it was going to do any good, she was going to have to force it down his throat. Her tongue lashed out and she gently pushed it to the back of his throat, feeling it slowly slip down.

She held him for what seemed like an eternity that way. She was aware that Morgan was stroking his throat, but she was ignoring the best that she could with that too. For now, her and Sly's souls were united, purifying his body from the venom that threatened to kill him. In her mind she called out to him, begging him not to go to stay and fight. Her kiss became their kiss as she could feel strength begin to flow back in him, as if he was filling her back with her spirit seven fold. His arms wrapped around her body, she felt them and he held her, returning his kiss with more strength and such passion that Carmelita felt that her body was going to explode in flames. Finally she pulled away, her eyes wide.

Sly looked up at her and smiled his roguish grin. "Detective Fox, I didn't know you cared so much," he said. His voice was strong, even stronger than what it had been before. He figured that she would rush at him and kick him, or come up with a snide remark, but all she could do was cry, shaking her locks back and forth.

"Thank God," she cried. She reached for him and collapsed, holding him tight. "Oh thank God."

Sly frowned, and then smiled serenely, stroking her long hair and holding her for a good while. When they released Sly rose to his feet and looked over at Morgan, whispering the words, 'thank you'. Tears were in her eyes too, for many reasons. She sighed, handing him his cane and nodded.

"Now if you will excuse me, I think it's time I visit a certain large, meat eating fish, and finish this business."

"Not alone you won't," Carmelita snarled. She reached over and took hold of his hand, holding it tight. "I want his blood too, after everything he put me through."

Elisa knew better than try to stop her sister when she was this determined. "Fine, please be careful then." She turned to her brother and nodded. "I'll get him out of here, and alert the police in Australia."

"I've already done that, but I'll help you get the child to safety," Morgan Skye said. She turned to Sly and sighed. "Be careful Falcon. Take care of yourself," she lightly kissed his lips and turned to Carmelita. "And you take care of him too."

The Interpol officer smiled and nodded, holding Sly's hand tighter. "Don't concern yourself with that."

_**S L Y**_

They reached the inner sanctum of Sharks lair, and stopped as bright lights switched on. They soon realized that they were right in the middle of the aquarium. The two of them looked at each other, squeezed each other's hands and pulled apart, raising their weapons, looking for the enemy.

"What a touching scene," a strong voice boomed. They looked down at their feet and saw Charlie the Great, his metallic teeth gnashing together as he looked up at them. "Love birds at last," he chuckled. "I don't suppose anyone ever told you that that happens to be one of my favorite dishes."

"Too bad you're not going to get a chance to enjoy the meals you've been so used to anymore," Sly said, tapping his cane on his arm.

"Where you are going, the food isn't so unique and gourmet," Carmelita snapped, pointing her gun at the floor.

"I wouldn't do that, detective, look where you two are. Standing over an aquarium, and what kind of weapon do you have? An electric shock pistol? I didn't know you wanted to take me down so bad that you were willing to go with me." He chuckled and rushed upward, breaking the glass underneath their feet. They jumped at the attack, but didn't flee. "I expected this," the shark said. "I've had Nyoko begin to operate my little toy, and look at where its being aimed at," he chuckled as a screen lowered down, and Sly and Carmelita could see the capital of Australia on it.

"You can't!" Carmelita shrieked.

"You really are mad," Sly growled.

"And you are in a very sensitive position, aren't you? Stay and fight me, and you may end up victorious, but you can kiss the capital good bye. Stop Nyoko if you could, and you save millions of people, but I get away to fight another day!" He howled with laughter, "So which will it be heroes?"

"I'll fight him, you stop Nyoko," Sly said to his partner. She blinked, not wanting to leave him in danger, but sighed and nodded her head. She turned to run out of the room, but the doors slammed shut as Charlie the Great slapped his tail fin against a button in his aquarium.

"Oops, too late, I guess it's a choice of do I eat fox or raccoon for dinner and save the other for desert?" He laughed and alarms began to wail. Slowly the glass under their feet began to slide away, and small pedestals shot out around the room. "And that my dear friends would be the dinner bell, so here I come!"

**_Ding Round 1 is over, and it seems like Charlie has the advantage, a swirling aquarium of death, and his number one agent ready to fire the weapon at millions of people. The second round begins in chapter nineteen, which is duh, the next chapter. I hope you're all having fun, because the action picks up. Just remember I don't write action that well, but I hope it will not disappoint at any rate. Going to stop writing now because its 10:30 at night, and I don't want to stay up too late. I still have to say my prayers, and write in my journal. Okay on to next chapter! _**


	19. Escape and Showdown, part 2

_**Ziggy's Corner: Okay here we go, the nineteenth chapter! Round two of the fights! I hope you're all having fun reading, because I'm having fun writing!**_

Elisa and Morgan Skye rushed through the halls, twisting and turning from one end to the other end of the base to the other, getting absolutely no where. "It's hopeless," Elisa moaned.

"Maybe not, I have an idea," Morgan said, looking down at the little fox between them. "Can you sense your brother out there, kiddo?"

"Look I don't know what you've heard about twins and psychic connections, but it doesn't work that way," Elisa answered for her brother.

"Maybe not normally, but I have a hunch it will now… for Gabriel and his brother anyway," she said. "Look, I know it sounds odd, but if you just trust me, and give it a chance, we may find a way out of here."

"I just met you, know you only through what I have read in the papers, and you want me to trust you?" Elisa narrowed her eyes. "What you are talking about sounds very new agey to me."

"Call it what you will, but if we can get your brother out of danger's path, then we should at least try …," Morgan snapped. The two women continued to argue for a number of minutes, their voices bouncing off the silver metal walls and floor all around them.

"Fine, I'll give it a shot," the boy snapped. If they didn't stop arguing, their voices would alert the guards, and then where would they all be? He closed his eyes and focused on his brother, trying to visualize him next to him, and then to listen to his voice.

_How on earth did you get captured? I knew I shouldn't have let you run off._ His brother's voice filled his head as he meditated. Gabriel scowled and bit his lips trying not to say anything to mean to his older brother, even if that older brother did happen to have a problem with pooping. _Sure bring that up again, why don't you?_

_How are we doing this? We've never been able to do it before!_

_Just listen to me, take the stairs you see in the next turn, and go up. You'll find the ruby that Sly was looking for, guarded by that scorpion woman. While Elisa and the other woman who's with you fight her, take the ruby from the weapon._

_You are trying to kill me aren't you? We want to get out, not get into another fight!_

_Ringtail's friends are just outside the base, and I think I can see a few more cars coming this way. Unless I miss my guess, momma and father are in one of them. Listen we were the ones prophesized to bring back the ruby, you by taking it, me by guiding you to it and finding a way to get you out with it. Don't ask me how I know it, I just do!_

Gabriel opened his eyes and looked at his sister and the other woman. "I know what we have to do, but neither of you may like it."

"What do you mean?" Elisa asked.

"She was right," he said, pointing at Morgan. "I can communicate with Christian with my mind. Momma and father are closing in on the headquarters, so are a number of other cars. He told me that we have to go up one level and get the ruby that everyone has been looking for."

"Ruby, huh?" Morgan smirked. "Sounds interesting."

"It belongs to the native people of this land," Gabriel snapped. "That scorpion ninja is using it to attack I guess."

The two women looked at each other and felt their pulses race. If ever an argument was made to go someplace they really did not want to go, that was it. "Alright, so where is this weapon?" Elisa asked with a sigh.

The boy led them up the steps, just as Christian had guided him, and they found the scorpion powering up a massive cannon. She turned and frowned as the woman and child entered. "Well it looks like Charlie-San's premonitions came true." She smiled and edged toward the weapon, a long slender gray thing that stuck out high into the air. In the middle of it was the glowing Ruby that seemed to be aching, disturbed by the evil it was going to be used for.

"We'll be taking that now, mate," Morgan said, pointing at the Ruby.

"Think you can take it?" Nyoko chuckled.

"Can't see you stopping us," the numbat said with her own smile.

"Enough of this," Elisa snapped. "If you won't give it us, then we'll have to take it by force." She moved into a defensive position and cracked her fingers. "Gus, stay back."

One moment she was standing over by the weapon, the next she was slamming down to the ground, right over Elisa's head, her whip and tail curving and twirling in vicious arches as she dropped.

Morgan made her move, leaping into the air and twirling like an ice skater, sticking her leg out to catch the ninja off guard. Nyoko grasped her ankle and tossed her into the other woman, collapsing them on each other as she landed gracefully next to both of them. A slash of her tail, and a crack of her whip forced them to part and dash on opposite sides of the room.

"Divide and conquer? How quaint," she sneered. The scorpion rushed to the numbat and flung both projectiles at her, cursing a little as the master thief caught the tail and whip in her Katana blades, pulling them in opposite directions so quick and with so much power that she nearly snapped the ninja's tail off. "You're stronger than you look," Nyoko gasped.

"I have a lot of assets that are far superior to what they appear to be," Morgan said with a sly grin. The numbat kicked the scorpion in her stomach, and brought up one of her blades to the base of her chin, but was blocked by a gloved hand.

"You are still not quicker than me," the ninja said. She pulled something from her girdle and pulled out three dark colored balls. "And I am thrice as times trickier than you could ever hope to be." She slammed the balls to the ground, and a gray mist covered the room from corner to corner.

"Who the hell uses the word thrice anymore, what are you from the middle ages?" Elisa asked. She pulled herself off of her butt, and rushed into the fog, bringing up a miniature shock pistol, took aim and fired.

"Watch your aim, wanker, I'm on your side," Morgan snapped somewhere in that rolling mist. A few minutes later Elisa could hear blade on blade, and saw white sparks flash from the cloud to the far left of the room.

"Sorry," she called out. The Interpol officer closed her eyes, relaxed and listened to the sounds of the combat, metal on metal, scraping against one another, the tap of toes sliding onto the floor and lifting their owners' back into the air for more onslaught. She began to sweat, but she kept her eyes closed ignoring Morgan's painful grunts and cries, ignoring the smell of blood splashing into the world or dripping onto the floor. She closed her eyes and counted; one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, and … four! Elisa opened her eyes swerved a quarter the way around and fired her shock pistol.

"You still missed me, Fox girl," Nyoko cackled through the smoke.

"Wasn't aiming for you," Elisa replied with a tight grin. She could tell the scorpion had stopped moving, not understanding her words, and contemplating what they meant. That had given Morgan all the time she needed to regain her bearings and strike. And when she did, the pillar that Nyoko was standing on collapsed from the explosion that Elisa's shock pistol had caused. "Checkmate," she smiled.

A few minutes the smoke cleared, and Nyoko was pinned to the floor, under the pillar, with Morgan Skye holding both Katana blades in her hands. The numbat was bloody and sore, her right ear had a massive gash across it, but nothing too serious.

"Bitch cut me with my own Katana blade," the numbat growled. She looked at her blade, checking it out a few times before she was sure that it was okay and then held it back at the ninja, or she would have had Nyoko been there.

"Never take your eyes off the 'bitch'," the scorpion snapped, next to the weapon. "First rule of war, and you failed the test." She scowled and pressed a button on the control board, activating the weapon or it would have had the Ruby been there. "What!"

It was then that Elisa realized her brother was gone too, and put two and two together. She didn't know how he had managed to see through the smoke, but he had, and now was somewhere in the headquarters with it. But if it was true that he had some kind of e.s.p. he might be fine. Still she had no intention of letting any thug near him; no amount of e.s.p. could help him if that were to happen.

"I've got another hunch where he's gone, girl," Morgan said. "We should be able to get to him quickly." She looked at the ninja and scowled. "But first," she growled.

"I'm way ahead of you." The two of them clenched their fists, and slammed them into the scorpion, knocking her out cold. Then they rushed toward the boy, and once they found him, followed his directions as they scrambled towards the exit of the headquarters, ruby in hand.

_**S L Y**_

Christian looked up at the large massive fortress, watching as guns from below began pounding the citadel of evil as wave after wave of police officer began opening up on the guards. Besides him were Murray, his brothers Miguel and Ivan, his sisters, Carmen, Olivia, and Gracia, and his parents, who after a lengthy talking to and discussion decided not to arrest the hippo, at least not on this day. He knew that his brother and other sisters were somewhere in the building, he was guiding Gabriel, Elisa, and the Australian woman to safety, to a small hole in the fortress that had not been covered up during the building of the fortress, and was being excavated for their escape purposes by Bentley and his girlfriend.

What he did not know was where Carmelita or Sly were. He tried to focus on their life energy, along with Murray, but there was a fog that seemed to cover their minds as they tried. Where ever they were, someone or something did not want them to be found.

"Momma, what can we do now?" he asked, frustrated that his powers wouldn't work for Carmelita.

"Pray child," she said silently. "We can always pray."

Olivia rolled her eyes, but a swift slap in the back of her head by her father shut her up before she could say anything. She scowled and left the group to sit on a rock, half expecting Carmen to come and say something. But the truth was that the nun had more than enough of her sister's whiney ways for a while now. Now was the time to do more than think of one's self, her mother was right. Now was the time to pray.

_**S L Y**_

The battle inside was fast and furious, and both Carmelita and Sly were tired and sweating. They had managed to narrowly pull off a first round victory when Carmelita had fired her shock pistol into the water, as she had leapt into the air. If it hadn't been for Sly, she would have fallen into the water and been electrocuted, but he had grabbed her wrist and held her tight as the shark thrashed and rolled in the electrocuted water, the master thief's hand holding onto his cane, which was hooked onto a small cable hanging over the chamber.

"I've had enough of this," Charlie growled, the lights in the room growing bright red. "Nyoko fire the weapon." He waited for a long time and called again. When there was still no response his tail fin flipped on a switch, and the monitor showed the unconscious scorpion on the floor, next to his weapon, with no ruby in it. "No!" Charlie roared.

"Well that's got to be a let down," Sly chuckled, holding Carmelita tightly around her waist. He smiled and began kicking his legs back and forth until they were close enough that they could jump onto a large ledge. Once there they had to decide on a course of attack.

"If only I had more charges in this thing," Carmelita groaned, looking at her weapon. She was thankful that Morgan Skye had managed to sneak in their weapons when she rescued them, but what could were they if they didn't work properly.

"You could always smack him with it," Sly chuckled. She shot him a look and turned back to the gun. As she did so, Sly gazed down into the black, dead eyes of Charlie who was still fuming with this latest development. His tail fin was thrashing back and forth, switching from monitor to monitor, each time he saw something worse.

His lackeys were being over run, gunned down, the law enforcement and Interpol slowly moving toward the base. The ruby gone, his weapon ruined, his 'generals' either knocked out, or as it now appeared by Nyoko's case, disappeared, and everything he was working for, it was now gone.

"I hope you lot can breathe under water, because that's where this fight is taking place now!" the shark howled. He selected another button, and the room began to fill with water, from all corners.

The ledge that they were standing on slowly slid back, and a hole pumped out water than smacked Carmelita off and into the pool down below. Sly screeched her name and leapt after her, grabbing her body and holding her tight as they slashed down into the water.

_Okay, I could have really thought this better. _Sly hated the water, ever since he had been two and nearly drowned in a fishing trip with his father.

_Daddy, why are we here? Young Sly had asked._

_We'll son, there's something I really need to tell you, but I didn't know how to do it. Father had tears coming from his eyes. Every time he had been upset he had always gone fishing. Sly, son, your mother … _

Sly blocked the rest of those words out as they hit the water and submerged. He hated them now as he did then. He had tried to edge his way from his father when he tried to explain about his mother, and slipped from the boat and into the water. Had his father not been so good a swimmer he might have died that day.

He held his cane and Carmelita tight, very tight as they watched Charlie smile, his teeth shining and blinding them slightly as he sailed up to them, watching them, playing with them like a cat plays with a mouse. He circled them, once, twice, three times and then same away, the colors of the water turning blacker than sin.

He knew better than to panic, but he couldn't help it. Sly made a dash for the ever growing surface and gasped for air along with Carmelita before they were pulled back down by Charlie's teeth. The raccoon grimaced, and he could feel bone crunch under the pressure of those jaws. Then to his horror his grip on Carmelita loosened and she slipped from him.

His mind raced as the shark put more pressure on his legs, tossing him around the water like he was nothing, and slamming him against the aquarium, his back groaning as it slammed numerous times against the glass. He could smell blood in the water, and he could feel the intensity of the shark as he pressed the attack, losing his mind to his primitive instincts and rage.

Carmelita felt woozy. Charlie had managed to get a hold of her foot when he dragged them back down, and she could feel blood ooze from it. Shaking off the tiredness, she tore a cloth from her shorts, and tied it on her foot. Then she headed for the surface and called out to the raccoon. "Sly, Sly answer me!" When there was no response she knew that something bad was happening. "Oh my God."

The Interpol officer gasped for air held her jaws tightly closed and dived yet again. She swam where she smelled blood the strongest, and felling with her fingers lightly, came across rough skin. She scowled and knew she had found her mark. Carmelita clenched her fingers around her shock pistol and slammed it against Charlie's gills, twice.

"You little witch," he roared in pain. The large fish slapped her with his tail and swam away, sending her into the other side of the aquarium. But in his confusion the lights switched to a soft blue, and Carmelita managed to spy a weak and nearly unconscious Sly just floating there, blood flowing from a gapping wound in his leg.

_No, no I am not going to lose him again! _The fox swam toward her man, and held him tight. She pulled him to the very top of the surface, was now reaching the ceiling, and coughed and sputtered water and blood from her mouth. Her hair clung to her face and cheeks and she could barely see, but she didn't care. All that was important was to get them out of the aquarium, and so there was only one option here.

The Interpol officer looked at her pistol, and then tore it open, careful to look where Charlie was. He was swimming in fast, tight circles, his eyes of hate glaring up at them bitterly. He was gasping and wheezing but it was obvious that he was determined to finish the job. Carmelita returned to the work at hand, regretting what she was doing, but she could always get another pistol. She'd never get another Sly.

"You are so fucking dead," the shark howled. He spun in another circle and launched himself up like a missile.

She knew what he planned to do. He was going to attack from the bottom, leaping into the air and attack with a jump that would probably break their necks if he pulled it off right. She was determined not to let him. Finishing at lightning speed, she rose the torn apart shock pistol and flung it at the aquarium, holding Sly under the water and bracing him with her body.

The explosion happened right as Charlie was just a few feet from them. His eyes turned from jet black to white with shock and his body was pressed against the wall and held there, as glass and plastic, water and bodies were sent flying in opposite directions.

For a long time, they all laid there, none of them moving, and then Carmelita pulled herself to her knees and tore more of her shorts and some of Sly's shirt, wrapping the fabric around his leg. "Come on Sly, don't give up."

He gasped and groaned, and finally shot some water from his mouth and looked up at her eyes. They smiled at each other, weakly and held each other for another long period of time, before they could hear an evil cackle, and the whirl of machinery. When they turned to look, their eyes would not believe what they saw.

Charlie the Great was bloody, injured, and totally pissed off. He was also in some kind of bizarre mecha suit that wrapped around his tail fin and gave him the availability of legs and arms. "Didn't know I was a land shark too, did you?" he growled. "That doesn't matter though. This round goes to you, but now my dear morsels, we've reached sudden death."

**_Okay this is it, chapter twenty! The half way mark of the story, and the finale of the battle with Charlie the Great, as well as the finale of the Charlie the Great saga. Come the twenty-first chapter a new foe awaits, and the families are going to have to deal with the real villains who have been pulling the strings all this time. Until then!_**


	20. Escape and Showdown, part 3

_**Ziggy's Corner: And this makes 20 chapters! The final and ultimate confrontation with Charlie the Great begins and ends in this chapter, new revelation comes to the front and Sly's world will never, ever be the same again. Enjoy.**_

Things were looking bad. Sly was barely conscious, and his leg was still dripping blood, despite what Carmelita had done for it. True the police and Interpol were cracking down on the citadel and had actually entered it, but they might not arrive in time. Charlie the Great had somehow donned a mechanized battle suit, and was marching slowly toward them, water pumping from cords that were planted into his gills rapidly. He smiled, his metal choppers glistening with light and drenched in blood, Sly's blood.

"This would be end game," he cackled.

"And once you're done with us, what are you going to do about the police and Interpol officers swarming your home?" Carmelita snapped.

He frowned, his eyes turning black again. "I was promised neutrality in this matter," he growled. His mechanized fingers clenched and flexed as he thought about it. "The Director is going to pay for lying to me like this."

"The Director?" Carmelita asked, her eyebrows bending down. She thought for a moment, could he mean the director of Interpol? That couldn't be right, how could the most powerful cop in the world get paid off so easy? So then the name Director was some kind of code name?

"You won't need to worry about it, lass," the shark howled. "You'll be mostly in my belly before too long," he chuckled again. "Not to mention all over this room for that matter." He rushed at them and with all his strength, Sly shoved Carmelita away just in time to keep her hit from the shark, unlike himself.

"Sly," she cried. She rushed to him, holding his limp body. "Sly, please, don't do anything stupid." He smiled at her faintly and gazed into her eyes. "You just promise me you won't give up, and you let me handle this freak."

His eyes betrayed his worry, but she overruled him with a kiss as she took his cane, and turned to the shark, her own eyes bitter and violent. "How dare you? Who the hell is it that you think you are!" She twirled the cane a little and held it out in a defensive position.

"Why should you care what happens to him?" Charlie asked, totally bewildered. "He's just another thief, like me. I would think you would want him off the streets any way you could find."

Carmelita bit her lips and growled lowly. "No, you have it wrong. Sly is a thief, but he is nothing, absolutely nothing like you. He has class, style, commitment, and most importantly… he has a good heart. He worries about people, all people. He doesn't look for ways to hurt people so he can make himself better than them, or lord it over them, he looks for ways to help, even when it's outside the established law."

"Is that why he goes around stealing things from governments, such as England's crown jewels, or your own Spain's fine art pieces?" Charlie cackled, and took a step forward, howling with laughter as she raised the cane to protect the raccoon. "Are the kings, queens, and presidents dangerous people that he feels the need to steal the very property of said people?"

"Sly has his issues, but he's not a deranged madman, like you," Carmelita growled so tightly that she could feel blood flow down her throat from biting her lips so hard. She never thought she would be defending Sly, her, the woman who had chased him for so very long, wanting to put him behind bars, using the same arguments that Charlie was now using against her. But she no longer cared about that. All that mattered was Sly, and protecting Sly. The walls had come crashing down, sure he was infuriating and yes, no doubt there would be times she'd chase after him with her shock blast pistol, especially if he continued on his life of crime and she her life of law enforcement, but the walls were down, and she could finally admit what was in her heart all this time.

"You don't even know how to use that cane," Charlie snapped, crouching down, ready to launch another attack.

"It's a cane," she snapped. "It doesn't take much to know how to use it."

"Why bother? Why defend him?" He was frowning, as if her actions were truly that alien to him.

"Because it's the right thing to do," she said. "Because he's a living being and because …," she paused; her mind not quite sure it was ready to say the words, though she actually felt them. _Say them Carmelita, you know it is the only way to release all this frustration in your heart. _"Because I love him."

He stared at her motionless, contemplating the words, and screamed with laughter. "Love? Love! What a weak, pathetic excuse! Such a stupid, useless emotion."

"It's the emotion of all humanity," She growled. "It's the most powerful emotion that we have, it can bring brightness to the corners of the world that embrace dark, and bring warmth when you need it most. But I wouldn't expect someone like you, someone who's sold his soul to the devil to know anything about that."

"You foolish little girl," he growled begin his charge.

"Love is too simple an answer. Make no mistake, the enemy does not love humans, its just a front. There must be something more that he plans to use them for," Sly muttered, stopping the shark in his tracks. It pained him to talk, but he couldn't help but defend his woman's position. "C.S. Lewis wrote something very similar like that in his book _The Screwtape Letters_, in which two demons consider whether or not love was really the issue."

"What does that have to do with anything," Charlie growled.

"It means that Satan could not see the truth even though it was right in front of his eyes," Carmelita finished off. "He had seen pure love, had seen God in person, and still felt that love was too simple an answer for his existence. In other words he preferred to justify his own ego to make himself feel better, and rejected both God and love, just are you are doing now." She smiled at Sly, shocked that he knew of Lewis' more religious writings other than just the Chronicles of Narnia.

"This is pointless," Charlie screamed and rushed at the fox. She dodged him numerous times, her heart pounding out of both adrenaline and love. She was well trained in combat with numerous weapons and Carmelita had fought Sly enough, or at least given chase, that she knew the basic workings of his cane.

She leapt into the arm, and landed on the top of the machine, banging against the edges of it with the cane, until the shark raised his fists and tried to slam her. She quickly leapt off of the machine and his fists smashed his small aquarium a little, water oozing out.

"I won't give up now!" he howled. "I won't give up, I'll rebuild my empire."

"You never had an empire to begin with," Carmelita growled. She leapt into the air and swatted with the cane, smacking the chest plates of the machine, causing sparks to fly from it.

"You little witch," he screamed. Charlie reached out and grasped the detective from her leg and swung her around and around like a lasso, before letting her go into the wall. There was a thick thud and Carmelita dropped like a rock. He smiled and stormed up to her. "That seemed to work out perfectly didn't it?"

"You're forgetting one little thing," Sly snarled. As the shark turned to look, the master thief landed a right hook to the glass case of the aquarium, right where Carmelita had been pounding when she was on top of the machine. With the grace of a ballerina, he swirled around, grasped his cane and yanked the water tubes from the shark's gills, and then dropped, his strength abandoning him.

"You … you can't," the shark screeched.

"I just did," he said with a grin.

Charlie did the best he could to get the tubes back into his gills, while holding his small aquarium tight against the machine. He groaned, moaned, and toppled over like a turtle on his back, losing the fight as the water exploded from the glass in the machine, and the tubes dropped loosely onto the ground, tiny rivers of liquid flowing from them. Charlie's eyes grew wide as he gasped for air, and then with the aide of his mechanical legs he screeched and backed away as if he saw something that Sly could not.

"No, I'm not ready yet," he cried. "You promised me an empire, you said I would rule the world in your name, it's not fair! I didn't expect them to beat me, it's not fair!" His body arched out on its own … twisting and thrashing as if invisible hands had clutched onto his body and was using it like silly putty. Then his skin became white and pale, stretching against itself pushing inward as if Charlie were imploding. Finally, to the terrified eyes of Sly and a reawakening Carmelita, the Shark became nothing but dust, his metal teeth all that remained of him.

Neither of them wanted to say it, but as they watched they could feel something enormously evil in that room with them. Something that came from hell itself. They could feel the heat of the flames of the damned on their fur, as could they feel the eyes of something so vicious, that their hearts felt as if they were going to burst. Sly did happen to see one thing that Carmelita did not. From the far corner of the room, he could spy the shadow of what looked like an owl, zooming downward into the ground. Shivers ran through his body at he said a prayer for the first time in years that he had not seen what he had.

_**S L Y**_

Four weeks had passed, and Sly sat in his chair, in a new headquarters, still contemplating what he had seen. It was an owl, no doubt about it, but it wasn't Clockwerk. It didn't look like him at all, for in fact it was three times the size of the evil robotic villain. That sent even more shudders up his spine.

Other things had bothered him too. The Tricoli tribe had received their Ruby back, in thanks to Christian and Gabriel, and the Fox family had given Sly thanks for taking care of them, giving him and his friends a break by letting them go, but Eko had no idea what had happened to the computer chip that he held for Murray and Christian. And what was more; Morgan Skye had disappeared just before the announcement, which could only mean she had taken it, and probably had the other too. But why? He knew she was competitive, but was she working for someone, was she in on this deeper conspiracy?

Nyoko had also vanished from the scene. Dr. Goren was still in his prison that Morgan had put him in, and all of the other thugs working for the shark had been caught, but the crafty scorpion had somehow managed to elude the law. Sly had no doubt he'd see her again one day.

Finally, and utterly shocking to Sly was a piece of paperwork that Bentley had found in that shark's base about the master thief's family. To his utter shock and confusion, he discovered that his mother, who was supposed to have died in a car wreck, was very much alive! Sly wanted to run and search for her right then and there, but of course was in no shape for it.

He still could not believe it. _Mom's alive out there, somewhere. Did she mean to leave me? Or was she kidnapped, and the car wreck made to look like she had died? Did dad really know? _He stroked his head, so many thoughts, so many questions. He didn't think sitting here would get them answered.

Sly sighed, looking at the empty lair, and smiled. Murray was off getting a bite to eat, and Bentley had left a few days earlier to go to Rose Marie Shell's vista in England for a weekend vacation. So this left him all alone. He walked out of the headquarters, and breathed in the night air.

"COOPER!" her voice echoed through the late autumn, Paris air. The master thief paused for a moment to smirk, and he turned to see Carmelita leaping through the night down to the base.

"Is there a problem, detective?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

She scowled at him for a moment, and then punched him in the shoulder. "You are darn right there is," she snapped. "What are you doing out here in the cold? Trying to get sick and get out of our date I suppose?" Then she smiled and held him tightly.

"Careful, detective," Sly chuckled. "Whatever would your father and mother think of you dating a thief?"

"Who do you think packed this basket of food for us to enjoy?" she giggled, lifting a small brown basket and winked. "And just you wait Ringtail, play your cards right, and there might be some extra desert in here for you too."

Sly smirked again and poked his girlfriend in her sides, making her squeal and punch him in the shoulder again. "Okay, okay I'll behave," he chuckled.

"Good boy," she laughed as she entered the headquarters. "Who says you can't teach an old raccoon any new tricks?"

His jaw dropped as he closed the door behind them, "Who are you calling old, girl?"

_**S L Y**_

Two dark and strong eyes watched them from afar. They were angry, bitter eyes, furious at last months' dealings. It should have all worked out, but that idiot shark blew everything to kingdom come. The short answer was that he had underestimated his opponents, and the Cult had been dealt a blow because of it. But no matter; Charlie, Nyoko, Alexandr, Goren, they had all been useful in their own ways. It was time to take the Cult into its next phase, and when that happened, the Director was determined to be there personally to offer Sly Cooper and his little girlfriend to the will of his dark god.

The Cult of the Owl would crush the will under its clawed feet, and when everything was said and done, the Director would become a new deity, rising to greatness unlike anyone had ever seen before. The dark fiend punched a button on his cell phone and asked in a thickly dark, gravely voice, "Are the next phase ready to go?"

"But of course," Neyla cooed from the other end. "Cooper and his friends are walking into a trap, whether or not they know it. And once they do, game over."

The Director smiled wickedly. "Good."

**_Okay, the end of chapter twenty, and the half way marker. You all now know the name of the true villains of this story, The Cult of the Owl. In truth this was going to be the name of a new story, a sequel to Everything's Relative, but since the story still massively deals with family dealings with what's going on, I decided to keep this path of the storyline right in line with Everything's Relative and make it a forty chapter fic. I'm still doing good, yes?_**

**_I plan on submit chapters 21-26 in January, but if you don't see them there, then look for them around February. Then, since the 7th is my birthday (31st! Wow!), I plan on submitting chapters 27-33 in March, probably on the 4th or 5th of March, as I will no doubt be going to get an allergy shot on the 7th. Finally the final seven chapters (chapters 34-40) will be updated sometime in May. Now Heiduska I know this may seem upsetting, but remember, I can't control my updating schedule. And Kaiseronni, now you get to know when all the chapters are coming out . Of course nothing is written in stone, but this is hopefully how it will go. _**

**_Since it's the December 15th tonight at my house, I thought I would ask Heiduska and The Divine One a question about Christmas Celebrations in their respective countries. _**

_**Heiduska, do you watch the Peace of Christmas festival in Turku, Finland on television, or does that city no longer do that anymore? For a city that calls itself your country's "Christmas City" I should hope it does. I read in the Christmas Encyclopedia that most Finnish people watch this on their televisions, so that's the reason of my questioning. **_

_**The Divine One, Do they still do "Carols by Candlelight" in Australia? I read it was something like sitting by the radio as it plays Christmas Carols and sing along by candlelight. I hope I got that right. I just thought it sounded like a cool thing to do, so I was wondering if you or anybody you know does this. **_

_**Cooper Fan, I don't know if your actually Portuguese, actually living in Portugal or one of its former territories, or Portuguese-American, living here in the states, and I can't find any information on what they do special for the Holidays to ask you about, so sorry. But if you are from truly from Portugal, and your people do something interesting, I'd love to hear about it. **_

_**The same thing goes for anyone else who reads this story, and are from a different nation, or culture. One thing maybe someone can help me out on, is where did the story of Mrs. Santa Claus first come from? If you could let me know about this, I would be most appreciative. I can't find anything about her, and its driving me a little batty. Thanks in advance, and on to chapter 21!**_

**_Okay, so Merry Christmas gives all his readers a pretty cyber Christmas tree, Happy New Year, and know I keep you all in my prayers. See ya guys! These six chapters will probably be submitted a little after Christmas Day, but I hope to have it in before the 6th of January, as that is one day after the Christmas season actually ends. December 25-January 5, the twelve days of Christmas, it was actually celebrated like that in medieval times, a tasty tidbit for you trivia fans. I wanted to get them in sooner, but my family as well as my sister's were too busy for me to do so this month. I hope you all understand. Oh and for my non Christian readers, the Cyber Christmas tree can turn into any decoration (so long as its not occultic) that you could want with the switch of a button, and turns into a groovy cyber race car for your amusement when not the holiday season. Okay see ya guys! _**

**_Okay I just wanted you all to know that I had gotten a cold earlier this month, and now my monitor is really nasty, it looks like it is going to fall right off, and the computer repair guy simply made things worse. I'll try to update as soon as possible, maybe in May, but do not hold me to that, as my time is not my own in updates. I just promise to do the best that I can. Heidi, I am truly very sorry for the long wait. I'll just have to give you a lot more cyber stuff (hmm a black cyber cheek for whatever type of gift you want from me should do I hope). I'll promise to do my best next time. _**

**_Okay it's the 23rd of February, this weekend I'll be updating, and I have a question for you all. I'm planning on writing either a one shot story, or a chapter story about one of my original characters, but I'm not really sure who to use. So here is what I'd like from you my fans, would you like to see a fiction about Nyoko, Morgan Skye, or one of Carmelita's siblings, and if so, which one (two counting the twins I suppose). Let me know in your reviews, and when next I update, I'll let you know who the winner (or winners) is/are. Thanks in advance. Ziggy. _**


	21. New paths, New dangers

**_Ziggy's Corner: Okay, we're on chapter 21 now! Got me a new computer, and unfortunately can't use the info from my old files on disk. I'll have to look up information and family names when I need to on my old broken down computer, and probably only when my brother is in school, as he was given the old computer and used it only for video game, and music. When I couldn't solve a problem right away, he got lippy, and lost the computer, which is hidden. He's almost home today, otherwise I'd be looking things up. Fortunately I remember the characters, and most of Carmelita's family. Anyway, a month in a half has passed from last chapter to this one. Its nearly Christmas time as this second half takes place; and the action has moved from Australia, to California, my home state, Egypt, and Europe. Okay, let's get ready to go! Oh, by the way as of March 7th of this year, I am no longer a thirty year old. I'm not 31! Lol, but that only made sense, didn't it J_** **** **_And yes, this story still has bronze, with 56 reviews. I wish I could answer each review personally like I did in my previous chapters, but that's no longer allowed. Anyway take heart, you're only away from the silver by two reviews, and the gold by three!_**

Barstow. It had to be Barstow that Morgan Skye fled to. Sly sighed and watched as dust and sand dunes raced by, one after another. Sure there was some grass, but with Winter coming, it was all drying up. There were buildings between Victorville, and Barstow, but they were far and few in between. Mainly it was dairy country between these two places. "Why Barstow of all places?" Sly groaned. "There's nothing exciting here, no organized crime to pickpocket, nothing worth stealing."

"We're not here to steal anything, Sly," Bentley sighed. "Morgan Skye went this way, according to all my readings and notes. More importantly, if we find her, we might find clues to your mother," he raised and eyebrow, and looked at his friend, "unless you've had a change of heart?"

His mother. All these years he had thought she was dead, killed in an accident caused by the Fiendish Five. Then after Charlie was defeated, he learned that she might still be alive! Why hadn't she looked for him? Why had she left in in that orphanage? Had she though he had been killed along with his father? Sly grew lost in his thoughts. He could remember her, slightly. She had such a soft, pretty voice, a calming presence. She had been good at snuggles and tickles, and he sort of remembered snuggling in bed with her and his father one terrible rainy night.

"No, no change of heart," Sly said, looking at his friend. "Besides, how could we deny Murray the joy of so many fast food restaurants so close together? Or you the opportunity to study the rocks and other relics from the Barstow Museum, or Calico, or …,"

Bentley Wiseturtle chuckled, "Or the Harvey House, or other sites of interest to me either in or just outside of the town?"

The raccoon smiled and sat back in his seat as they passed a sign that said that they were entering city limits. Still the thought of being in the unofficial capital of the Mojave Desert, a town that has nearly burnt down three different times, and flooded once, it wasn't the most pleasant of places.

There was almost nothing for children and teenagers to do here, save for a building called the Fun Zone, but that might as well have called itself Pleasure Island, as the only ones who went there were drug users, pushers, or gangsters. There were two different video game stores here, which catered to the Anime set, trading card games, both owned by the same people, and both bearing the name, Game World. The politicians here were well known to bore their viewers to sleep, and had for a long time debated over letting an Indian Casino be built near the small community of Lenwood, which was just a few minutes from its richer, and just as ignorant "master". What was more, was that the people in that small community could not even vote for the politicians who decided a lot of the things that ran their lives, as they were not universally incorporated into the actual city.

"Whatever happened to no taxation without representation?" Murray wondered aloud as Bentley read the brochure he had downloaded about the area from the Internet.

"Their not really being taxed, just told what may happen without their universal approval," the turtle said.

"Sure, that makes everything so much better," Sly chuckled.

"The only thing really keeping them afloat is a Wal-Mart, but that closed down many smaller stores, and helped lead the strike in which a good number of grocery chains were really hurt for a while." Bentley turned the page, and looked at more information, "Although most people in Barstow do their shopping outside of the city, near Victorville."

"And the politicians haven't realized this why?" Sly asked, leaning on his cane.

"If they have, they haven't seemed to really care," Bentley said. "Most of the meetings I've forced myself to watch nearly drove me to leap out of the second story motel we were staying in for a while and end my misery."

Sly and Murray both laughed at the same time, "I thought you liked watching all that political mumbo jumbo," Murray said, looking at his 'little brother'. "You always say you find C-Span fascinating."

"Not to mention all those political sites you log onto to see which country and its providences, states, or counties are coming with new laws," Sly added.

"I do like the political, 'mumbo jumbo'," Bentley conceded, "but the mayor and councilmembers of this city can't find their butt from their heads. I watched one developer come to them with a plan to build a giant book store, one that could generate a good deal of catch, and all the could do is twirl their fingers, constantly ask who he was again, and what he was talking about again, and talk amongst themselves. The mayor even had the audacity to laugh at his people, when they came forward and asked for their curbs to be taken care of, or when they defended the developer's plans. One of them even stood up, stretched and yawned as the man was making his presentation!"

Sly shook his head. _Can you say recall? _He chuckled to himself, from what his best friend and 'brother' was telling him, no, they probably couldn't. They probably couldn't even spell it let alone spell it, but what were the people of Barstow to do? This was a city in a state that a few years back had over one hundred candidates for governor, and who had elected an actor with really big muscles because they liked his movies.

They arrived at the motel a few minutes later, and quickly snuck into the room, careful of not being seen. Morgan Skye was somewhere in this city after all, and they didn't want to key her off too quickly. Those chips were important to more than just finding Sly's mom. According to the Aborigine chief, should they fall in the wrong hands, something vicious could be released. Something like Clockwerk, or something far worse. He'd beaten the menace twice now, he had no intention of reliving the nightmare a third time.

The three friends settled down in the motel room, and mapped out their next move. Bentley would do some surveillance, and see if he couldn't pin the Australian thief down to one spot, while Sly and Murray would get the lay of the land. After they ate, relaxed a little, and took a few hours nap, the three went to their separate missions.

Sly wished he could have called Carmelita, told her what he was doing, but that was dangerous. After all, they were both working. Which meant it was back to being cops and robbers for them. Had she found out where he was, she would have hurried over to put the cuffs on him, just as she had tried many times before in the month in a half that they had agreed to be boyfriend and girlfriend. The kissy kissy, snuggle-snuggle hour, that Christian liked to call it, was only reserved for "off hours".

He smiled, remembering once when he and Bentley had brought Carmelita and Rose Marie to their headquarters to play a combat racing video game. Surprisingly his girlfriend was quite good at it, but no where near as good as he was, until Rose Marie had made a snide comment to help edge her on.

"Just pretend he snuck in and caught you coming out of the bathtub," she had said with a wink.

It was all she had needed. Not only did she waste both Bentley and his girlfriend to get to Sly, but also a dozen or so other players from the Internet who were unfortunate to get in her way. She nearly managed to get Sly, but he cross the finish line right before he blew up, and thus officially one the game.

"What do you think about that, Ringtail?" she had asked him.

Sly had smiled slyly and stroked his chin. "I have never been more turned on in my whole life!" She had kicked him for that, but she had done it with a laugh, so he knew she wasn't to ticked at him.

The raccoon had felt bad that both he and Bentley had found a girlfriend that they liked hanging out with, leaving Murray out in the cold, but he claimed he didn't mind. He liked going into his room and meditating, furthering his teachings that he had learned in Australia. Still Rose Marie constantly claimed that he needed a girlfriend, and she and Carmelita tried their best to set him up a couple of times. The only real girl he'd liked was another fox, one named Ruta, who was Carmelita's best friend. But for the time, they just claimed to be friends, so the girls let it drop.

He shook his thoughts aside, and blinked, before continuing his work. Morgan, he had to catch her, and get those chips back. His mother, the world, they were counting on him.

**_SLY_** **_COOPER _**

A pair of eyes watched the raccoon leap from one roof to another, placing some tracking devices, and mapping out something that was apparently important to him. Nyoko took her binoculars from her eyes and smiled, he had survived her poison. Her body grew warm with that thought, his muscles stretching and bending as if he were exercising just for her. She had heard rumors that he had survived ever since she had slipped from Charlie's base, and avoided getting captured. Her bones cracked, and her whipped itched for action, but now was not the right time.

_He's looking for that numbat who I fought with. His former lover. She had the computer chips, the chips I have to collect. Neither one seems to know just how important those things were, what they were worth. _Nyoko reached down and pet her mechanical pet, Cooyoko, one of Dr. Goren's tickle bots that she redesigned to be her little enforcer, pet, and eyes and hands when she could not get close enough to do the job. She named it after Sly, or his last name, merged with her own name. What she wouldn't do to make him hers. If he asked, she would gladly give up crime, to be the one to be in his embrace at the end of the day. But he had chosen the fox over her, or the numbat. No doubt that stung Morgan Skye as well, but it was of little consequence.

"Keep an eye on him, my pet," she cooed at the machine. It tapped its metal feet and squeaked and beeped in acknowledgement, and then whistled a question. "No don't hurt him. Just watch," Nyoko said. "If I've already found him, then so has Morgan, and if she has found him, it might be that she'll try and convince him to join her in whatever it is she has planned. That's when we'll strike, that's when we'll get the chips."

Cooyoko cooed another question, and she ran her hands over its smooth dome head. "No, I won't force him to join me," she sighed. "It would be much more enjoyable for him to do that on his own free will." She looked down at it, and ran her fingers through her newly shortened hair. She had let her hair be cut, because of her defeat, as a sign to remind her of her disgrace. But this new pixie look was to her liking, and she found many males drawn to her with her hair like this, than with her long flowing flocks, which had given her a more gothic look.

The machine whirled and accepted its duties, stretching out with a long slender tongue, like that of a dog, and licked its master. The scorpion threw back her head and giggled, she hadn't taken out the tickle option from the machine., and continued to stare at Sly.

Nyoko smiled, wondering wither or not Sly would like the new look, and pulled her hood over her face, ready to perform her own next task. Those chips, those two chips were worth so much, they could make her dreams come true if she wanted. And she wanted … very much. "Wait for me, my love," she cooed. "Our time will come, perhaps. Just wait."

**_SLY_** **_COOPER _**

Hers was not the only eyes that watched the raccoon. These eyes were pit black and full of energies that belonged to no mortal being. Its red wings ruffled as it moved, its head turning to an arch, switching from Sly and the scorpion, to the turtle and then him to the hippo. They narrowed, as the figure moved from foot to clawed foot. It gasped for air and fluttered its massive wings. "Sly Cooper," it said, its voice hallow and dead, speaking the name more like a curse than it was the name it was.

All around the being were flames as high as the Empire States Building, and some even higher than that. The winged creature writhed in pain, but refused to take its eyes off of any of them. Morgan Skye, that numbat seemed the only one who was truly wise to what those chips would do, and she was being very secretive about her movements. She knew that Sly was in the same town, she knew that Nyoko was here too, and she might have even felt the shadowy being's presence staring at her. It didn't care.

Screams turned its attention away from the individuals. Blackness, pure blackness was below him, with hints of flames rising and slamming against sharp walls. It knew these flames were the souls of the fallen angels, and the damned. The smell of sulfur and brimstone was strong, as was the smell of burnt flesh and hair. Those flames, the ones slamming against the walls were in actuality the souls of the damned. Constantly beings were flailing down into the pit every day, and still nothing abated its hunger. Even the demons roared with agony and terror of being shut away from the vision of their God. Voices cursed their lives, cursed that they had not listened to their religions, and had gone down the path to destruction. Fingers arched in agony, limbs bent in pain, until souls looked more like flaming circles than the people they once were. The path to Hell was open and wide, but the pit of Hell was narrow and endless. Bodies flung together, and demon and fallen soul tortured one another as they tried to pull free from the other's grip.

Further down, passed the flames, were endless caves of bitterest dark. Those souls whose sins had condemned them to this agony, continued their acts, either screaming for mercy and an end to it, or to constant nervousness, fearing that someone might catch them in their sinful actions, although no one ever would. God was a being who granted to those anything their hearts desires, but warned of what the individual wanted. And yet foolishly enough, no one seemed to consider those ramifications. Satan wanted his own kingdom, and was granted it, but it was nothing like Heaven. Those addicted to pornography, to alcohol, to mind altering drugs. They were all granted their universal wish, their habits forever granted to them. And yet, after hearing the divine voice of God, the source of truth, these tortures which at the time on Earth had seemed like pleasures, were revealed for what they were. Worse than tortures, chains made link by link by the individuals themselves!

Caves of ice, where the naked froze for all eternity, rather than put their trust in modesty, caves of eternal paths, for those who refused to accept aid from friends or family. Flesh was sliced, pulled apart, only to reform and begin to be subjected to the tortures all over again. And all the while, the suffocating stench of hatred choked all. Hatred of themselves, of this foul place, of Satan, of humanity, of free will which they abandoned. Hatred of God, who they still rejected, even when hearing His voice at the judgment seat. The last test, which very few of those in the deeps of sin passed, preferring their iron shackles of their habits and their vices as the easier road. They all knew it was no longer easy to carry those chains.

The shadowy figure remembered once what he had heard a prophet once say. "Easier to accept is the Cross, than the chains which we forge ourselves."

It was from this pit, that the foul specter had wished to depart, from this foul pit which prophesy claimed he _would _depart. And it was from this foul pit, that this specter would establish upon the Earth itself. Two hells, no protection, no sanity. Only pain and agony and flames as high as the Empire States building, and some higher. The prophesy was coming to pass, and the dark shadow flexed its large massive red wings, and laughed. It would all be because of Cooper.

_**Boy talk about the stuff of nightmares! Anyway with this new villain in the story comes a new path, as the story is going to keep being action/Adventure/Comedy, but Supernatural elements are now add too. The scene from Hell? It came from the testimonies from the saints and prophets, who were allowed to see its horrors, as well as from my own feelings of what it might be like. I most definitely do not want to go there. Well, there you go, Heidi, you're character has been mentioned. Soon she'll be seen too! As will my own character and the DivineOne's. Thanks for reviewing! And keep them up! The more reviews, the better the chance of getting gold! Carmelita comes back in the next chapter.**_


	22. Nightmares

_**Ziggy's Corner: Okay on to chapter 22! Remember to review! The story is now away from the gold medal by eight reviews. However, there are only four keeping you away from the new silver holder, the old gold medal holder. But there's a plus here, as the current gold winner, is finished. And the silver holder will only be nine chapters less than this story, so Everything's Relative might indeed eventually end up with the gold for a good while! Anyway on to the story.**_

Morgan Skye stretched as the early morning light struck her as she camped in the tent and looked out. She wasn't big on camping, and even less big on camping in the desert, rather than the forest, but from what she discovered, there was someone here who could help her make sense of this puzzle. She caught some insects and a retrieved a few eggs for her breakfast and then wolfed them down as fast as she could. Morgan took a quick shower cautious of anyone who might be watching her, and then dressed, holding the chips in her hand, and put them in her pocket.

If there was anything good about the desert, it was the area around Calico. The hills were brightly colored, even in winter time, with bright reds, browns, a few patches of black. The Ghost Town used to be a major source of silver in the late nineteenth century, and was a little older than her southern neighbor, of Barstow by at least ten years. Neither was a favorite of the numbat. The politicians of Barstow were fools, the people even more foolish, and this Ghost Town was an expensive camping site … and a cramped on at that. People from all over the world came to see this Ghost Town, that wasn't really much of a ghost town. A few individuals still lived here, and there was even an operating school, though not in the town, named after it.

She walked up the steep hill, her eyes getting used to the light. She was to meet this man, this priest or whatever he was now, and get the information that she wanted and very much needed. Morgan knew that Sly had tracked her here, and was both cautious and a little relaxed. There was no Carmelita, and that meant she could focus on trying to get him back. Not necessarily to make him unfaithful, but if this was her last chance to get back together with him, she meant to take it. Still, he was only the second thing on her mind. This chips were important, something about an owl cloaked in dark flames, devouring souls. There was a raccoon attached to this thing, and she kind of hoped that it meant that it was not Sly who was connected to it.

The raccoon walked up through Calico, her mind racing, her eyes glowering at every direction. She knew that Clockwerk had something to do with his family, but she also knew that with Carmelita's help, that wicked villain who cared only for his own legacy was finally defeated, and was taken by the ages after thousands of years of stalking Sly's family. She wasn't sure if this owl was Clockwerk. After all, he had lived in the very earliest eras of Egypt, as had Sly's family. And everything she had learned was about ancient Egypt.

The mystery had driven her mad, until she happened passed a certain web site that was owned by this priest. Fr. Hayden Mac Cullum, who claimed he could read ancient Egyptian, as well as had a knowledge of some kind of doomsday prophesy. She hurried to pack her things after contacting the man, and set off for California. She knew Sly wouldn't be happy with the loss of the chips, but she figured he'd be right on her trail, and originally he was, until he took a break for dating. That had given Morgan the lead she needed to really push forward to the end of the goal.

She sat in the tavern, and watched people come and go, as day went on. Hour after hour, she waited watched, ordered a late lunch, and waited some more. Her anger was growing with each tick of her watch, and she began tapping her foot. This was the tavern he had told her to meet him in, wasn't it? Was he full of baloney? Had he lied? But if he did, why? Finally at six thirty in the evening, she rose to her feet, totally tired, and completely miserable. She had held her bladder most of the day, and only used the bathroom two hours ago, ordering the person on the other side of the counter that she should be instructed if someone, a priest, had come looking for her. It shouldn't have been too hard to see a Komodo Dragon walk through the doors, in the clothes of a priest. However; the small ape claimed that he had seen absolutely nobody.

The numbat sighed agitatedly and then began walking back to her base of operations. The cool desert winter air flicked through her fur, and she sighed even more agitatedly. She didn't like the cold, but then again she wasn't very fond of the warm heat that summer brought. She of course liked the beach, and was excellent at surfing and bogy boarding, but her other careers kept her almost too busy to enjoy these sports … almost.

Morgan hurried back to her base, wrote a quick email to the priest, and then took yet another shower. When they were dating, Sly would constantly tease her about how many times she'd shower. It got so intense one time, that she decided to forgo a shower for the next three weeks. She reeked so bad, flies who buzzed near her had to use tiny little gas masks just to see straight, let alone breathe. After that incident, Sly had never again spoken about her showering so many times, and once or twice offered to join her. The first time she decked him in the eye, but the second, she let him have a pep show, and giggled as he gawked at her.

She dried off, downed her dinner, and flipped through her papers about the region and the chips yet again. The puzzle was driving her nuts, making her lose sleep. She began pacing slowly, looking at the book she had bought in Cairo just before coming to the United States. There was something here that she should have put together, but it was as if an extreme piece of the picture out and tossed in into the incinerator. She took a nap, and woke up around two thirty in the morning, the sounds of her computer blaring an alarm making her leap out of bed.

It was pitch black, save for the glow of her computer, and the small illumination of her clock. Morgan stumbled forward to get access the email, and cursed as she read another piece of junk mail Her finger jammed down so hard as she went to delete it, she nearly sprained it, and she cursed the inventor of spam junk mail to a long overdo beating. Going through the rest of her mail she sighed, and clicked the computer off, set to alert her if something else would catch her interest.

Her fingers cracked as she rested in her bed again, her eyes wide open as she stared in the darkness, until boredom settled in, and she clicked her remote, to turn on CNN, to watch if any of her company's stocks had risen, and then began channel surfing. _At least I still enjoy my favorite sport this way. _She came across another priest talking about how an older woman had warned him that if his sermons weren't good enough, he'd end up in Purgatory, where they'd play his tapes over and over and over again, and force him to watch them. She thought that was pretty funny, then she switched to both VH-1 and MTV, and watched a few of their programs, before switching over to MTV2 and watched a stupid Sesame Street rip off, which she quickly surfed past. _So much for that channel's promise of only being music videos. _She then found a repeat of Drake and Josh, and watched, for the duration that show. Morgan was too old for the boy, but she liked his music, and had to admit she was shocked at how well he looked after his accident at the Kids' Choice Awards. But she knew Irish Setters were good at heeling if left alone. She had two of his Cds, and planned on counting down until she could get his third. He was a good kid, and the one time she'd met him, she had found him eager to help her bring down a Yakuza thug. Her finances protected him from any kind of pay back, that the Japanese mafia might have inflicted on him.

It was soon four o'clock, and she was still not tired. She was watching a documentary about ancient Egypt on the History Channel, but found it boring. She nearly switched when the announcer told the audience about something about a cult of a god named … well she couldn't pronounce it, but it dealt with an owl. Her eyes were glued to the set, and she waited with baited breathe, when the base of hers began to rock back and forth, and she cursed a little. "What a bloody wonderful time for an earthquake." It continued to rattle, until the television dropped to the ground and shattered, the numbat leaping out of harms way.

"This is no earthquake," she raised an eyebrow, and made her way to her door, slinking out of it as the base turned on its side and was tossed clear across the camp grounds, dozens of screaming people ran around, their arms in the air as they dashed too and fro. The numbat turned and saw the origin of the madness, a very large masked figure, that looked very reptilian. "You lost, or don't you like the service the good people of Calico provide?"

"You have something that I want," the reptile growled, glaring at her with bright yellow orbs it must have called eyes. He wore a long black overcoat, with gray knee pads over it, silver white fingerless gloves, and a mask that gave little room to hint his real identity.

"Where did you get that line? Off the bad guy on line dictionary of supposedly villainous phrases?" she asked with a smile.  
The reptile launched himself at her, and she sped away, rolling into a ball as he tried to stomp where she had been. "I don't suppose I could interest you into at least going to villain school to learn real phrases?"

The reptile growled and pulled out a stick, and launched yellow glowing disks from it. Morgan's eyes grew wide, and she leapt too and fro, ducking, jumping into the air, using her katana blades to twirl herself around the branches of the scattered trees around. "I didn't think so," she said with a shrug. She looked around, there were too many people around for a fight. And with all these witnesses, she could say good bye to Morgan the businesswoman, and say her hello's to the old face of Morgan Skye, master thief and wanted criminal.

"What do you say we go someplace more private," she asked, leaping to another branch as the reptile swung at her.

"Why? These people don't mean anything to me, and they won't be around for much longer as soon as you give me the thing I've come for." He chuckled and fired in her direction again, growling and hissing as she blocked his shots with her blades. "You have skill, perhaps you'd like to become one of us? There wouldn't be any need for violence then."

"You talking about killing innocent people one second, and no violence the next? What kind of crazy cult are you a part of?" she asked, swinging into the darkness, hoping to plot her next move.

He smiled, and cocked his head, "The kind that is going to rule the world, of course."

"Yesh, another lame villainous statement? You need help, mate." _I have to lure him away from here._ "Catch me if you can, handsome." She leapt down and rushed out of the camp site, constantly checking to see if he was following her. For half an hour he did seem to be, until at last he didn't appear from the other side of the hill. She blinked, her chest hurting, her lungs crying for air, and the numbat stumbled against a rock. _Was that it? And if it was, what the heck was it about?_

"Those computer chips, darling," he cooed from behind her. She turned around and felt his boot strike her face. Morgan heard the crack of teeth as she was sent spiraling further down the hill, until her blade caught a piece of stone and she managed to keep herself from failing down completely. "I want those computer chips," he growled again.

"That much is obvious," she groaned. "But wanting and getting are two different things."

"I'll pry them from your fingers, if I have too," he hissed, leaping from the top of the rock down to her body. He glared at her for a long time and held his hand out. "The chips please."

"Bite me," she growled. The reptile growled and picked her up and chomped down on her thigh, shaking her a little before dropping her down, her blood dripping from his jaws.

"You've been bitten, now give me the chips," he said, his voice low and guttural.

"You're not the priest," she said half asking. "The one who said I should come to visit him."

He raised an eyebrow. "Priest?" He smiled then and stroked his chin. "Interesting, what did you tell him?"

"I didn't think you were him, he never showed up. Besides you look more like an alligator to me," she said, trying to pull herself to her feet. She blinked and mentally told herself to shut up.

"I'm a crocodile for your information, but now that I've got that little bit of info, you sure you don't want to convert and let us know even more? You'd be a very good asset."

She looked at him for a moment and scowled. "Sorry, I've been a loner for too long."

"He told me you'd say that," the crocodile said. With a whip of his tail he sent Morgan all the way down off of the cliff, and watched her drop to the ground, and lay motionless. He hurried down the hill and picked through her clothes, until he found one of the computer chips. "He also said you'd only be carrying one of the chips." He looked down at the body and sighed, well I guess you're not much further use to us after all."

**_SLY_** **_COOPER _**

Carmelita thanked the curator of the museum for his kindness, and walked out of the building. She'd been here in Cairo for over two weeks, sent here when her superiors got a call that an artifact was stolen from the museum, ala the Cooper Gang M.O. style. She had to admit, it looked just like something Sly would have done, and there was a calling card, with Sly's design right where the artifact had been. Her heart dropped, she knew he had kept up his thieving ways, even though they were dating. He still could not give up the "fun" of cops and robbers, but she also knew that he wasn't the kind who'd rip off the artifact and then destroy it, leaving it in pieces where she'd look. Sly wasn't like that.

The woman also knew her boyfriend was looking for clues for his mother, and to solve the prophesy that Eko would had told them about. But after getting his answers, Sly would have returned the artifact, or would have placed it neatly on a desk in her hotel room, where she was sure to find it in one piece … right after sneaking a peak at her in the shower. So if it wasn't Sly who was responsible, then who? Her sisters told her about their experience with a computer program that claimed to be Neyla, and she knew that villainous bitch knew about the Cooper Gang's M.O. but even if she could bring herself to admit that Neyla had come back from the dead, a computer program could only do so much! Maybe she convinced some kid to pull the stunt, but he or she would have to be some kind of whiz that surpassed even Sly's talents. Was there anyone who had such that talent?

Carmelita had time to spare now that this case was solved, and went to her hotel to change and explore the ancient city, catching the sights, watching the people of the city walk, talk and dicker over this price or that. The young fox shook her head and went to a number of shops. She had to buy something for her family, and then there was Ruta. Her best friend was a year younger than her, and was almost the exact opposite of her. Where she had been stiff and saw things in black and white, Ruta saw things in color. She was also an Interpol officer, but she liked to have fun, more than Carmelita. She liked dresses, parties, and justice.

"A super girl of the Interpol group, huh?" Carmelita asked.

Ruta looked at her best friend of fifteen years, her hair a mixture of blonde and brown, with a touch of red. Her clothes were normally light blue, unless it was winter, in which case she liked wearing white. "Super girl?" She asked with twitch of her ear. "I would prefer to Wonder _Woman_." They chuckled about that, Ruta was a secret operative working for Interpol, so most of the regular agents didn't even know about her.

She wondered what Ruta was doing right now, more to the point, what Sly was doing. She still had her doubts that he was here in Cairo without visiting her. Though she had ideas that he knew she'd slap the cuffs on him if he tried. She giggled, "He'd probably like it."

Just two weeks ago, during their last date, she had dressed up like Daisy Duke for him, and let him play the bumbling officer trying to catch her. Despite his best efforts, even he had a hard time catching her, just as she had a hard time to get him when she was right on his ass. She made it up to him by taking him to dinner at a fancy restaurant, though she denied any and all access to her bedroom after the date, not that he was being pushy about it. Sly was nothing, if not a gentleman.

As she finished her shopping, Carmelita went back to her hotel room, and dialed his private number. "Just letting you know what's up Ringtail," she said, fighting the urge to baby talk him. "Someone stole some kind of artifact in Cairo, and pulled the same stunts you do. If it was in fact, _you_ then I suggest you get out of Egypt before I catch you and tie Willy around in knots so tight, he'll won't be able to breathe, let alone wanting to be free. Not that I believe that it was you, but just a friendly warning."

She hung up and dialed her father. "Poppa, it's Carmelita."

"Hello _mija_," her father said. They talked about the current situations, about what had happened these last two months, and about Sly. "I'm still not sure I like the idea about you dating that boy."

"Poppa, don't worry so much," Carmelita said.

"If I wasn't worried, if I didn't know you weren't, then you would not have called tonight. In fact, you've called each night since you started dating him. You told me that Clockwerk is gone, as is Neyla. Charlie has been beaten, so what is it exactly that you're afraid of?"

She frowned and blinked, her mind thinking. "I'm not sure what you mean, poppa."

"Yes you do," he snapped. "Don't you lie to me, Carmelita."

She blinked and thought yet again. "Poppa …,"

"Child, you know that I love you, jut like your mother, but you are a big girl now. If you're afraid that one or both of you are going to be attacked, and used by someone out there, well I suggest you make your peace, or break up." There was a silence and then he spoke, "You do know if you catch him in the field, its your duty to arrest him?"

"I know that, poppa!" she snapped, and then recoiled as she realized what she had done. "Father, I'm sorry."

"I understand your feelings, my daughter," he said, looking at her tenderly. "I just want you to be careful."

Carmelita smiled and blinked. "I know."

"And remember Carmelita," he said, his voice growing playfully more forceful.

"We haven't slept together poppa," Carmelita giggled with a roll of her eyes.

"And you better not unless that boy gets a decent job and can afford to take you on as his legal partner in marriage."

"And only in the Catholic faith," Carmelita said, repeating her family mantra.

"With good Catholic _mijos and mijas," _he added with a half joke.

"I have to go, poppa," she said. "I'm getting tired, and have to get ready to leave Egypt tomorrow."

"Have a safe flight then, and good night."

They hung up, Carmelita said three Rosaries, one for her family, one for herself, and one Sly, before reading her latest novel, and then turned out the lights. She was a heavy sleeper, and had heavier dreams. Heaven and Hell mixed with light and shadows. She tossed and turned, her eyes fluttering under her lids. Sweat poured down her, as in her dreams two beaming red eyes glared at her constantly, watching her every movement.

"Sly? Sly, where are you?" she cried out. She was running through a dark hall, nearly crushing her. Somewhere in the darkness she could hear a cruel laughter, and bright red crimson oozed from the wall. _Blood?_

"He won't be able to save you my dear, no one can save you." Demons ran from behind her, their eyes full of blood-lust. "Nothing can save you. Or any humanity."

Carmelita continued to run, fleeing from the demons, crying for her hero to save her, for anyone to save her. Just as she feared that death was upon her, she woke up, and screamed like she had never screamed before, as she escaped an evil that she had never felt before. Her body was soaked, her eyes were blood red and her head was pounding. There was a force out there, one that she feared, one greater than Clockwerk, or Neyla, or Charlie the Great who was after them now. And nothing was going to be the same.

_**Okay, what do you all think?**_


	23. Neyla Returns!

_**Ziggy's Corner: Okay this is chapter 23. For those of you who enjoyed Morgan's and Nyoko's rumble in the earlier chapters, because these two women are going to clash yet again. Also I have decided that the twins will earn themselves at least two sequels, if not more, Nyoko and Morgan Skye each will get their own story on the site too, Nyoko's Gambit, and Legend (For Morgan Skye's story), so keep an eye out for them. I also have a Sly Cooper zombie story I've outlined, called Sly Cooper: Burial Grounds (which by the way will be the first that takes place in the video game universe, not the Ziggy Sly Universe, the cast and characters of Sly3 will be in it), so please keep an eye out for all of these stories, and more. That being said, let's get on with the chapter! I'll have to turn this into an HTML document to submit what I have written. will not let me submit normally with Microsoft Works Word Processor. If its kind of weird, my sincerest apologies. **_

It was later in the day, after she had been attacked by the crocodile when Morgan finished packing her bags, and headed for the nearest airport. She had tried to find the priest again, but no one knew where he could be found, no if the man even existed at all. The thought that she had been set up ran through her mind a good while, and the female master thief found herself chastising the stupid, reckless acts that led up to the loss of one of the chips.

Her base of operations was shattered, as the thug had decimated it when he threw it off in the distance, and then had apparently come back to see if he could find the other chip. He was right to assume that she would have kept it here, but apparently his mind was not as big as his body. The thought of a hidden compartment obviously had never crossed his mind. Morgan pushed a button in her bathroom, near the bathroom, and a secret door opened, revealing the other chip. She smiled as she picked it up, and then placed it quickly in her backpack.

Time had been against her. Shortly after the attack, almost right after regaining consciousness, she was asked so many questions by the local police about what happened, her brain hurt. A small handful of the officers knew about her, or at least her business rep, and she found herself signing more autographs than anything. It was as if Donald Trump had come down to this little peasant village to mingle with the commoners.

As soon as she could break away, the woman did. Too many questions meant too many noses poking around not just in her resume or a chance to get hooked up with a better job with a kind word from her, but also finding out just who she was before entering the business world so successfully. Morgan's body ached as she got out of the cab, and she forced herself not to all the pain to show. Quickly she made her way to the counter, bought a ticket, and waited for her plane to take off.

An hour later a shadow overwhelmed her, and she looked up to stare into the eyes of Nyoko. Her body, already stiff, grew tighter still. They were foes just two months ago, but maybe it didn't have to stay that way. "You look well," she said, cautious of the other's movements. "Nice haircut."

"You look worn out, I can't imagine that a woman of your standing would have such a tough time in a small town like this," she said, her lips curling tightly. Her tail twirled and swirled as she stood, almost itching for a fight, with a mind of its own. "Of course being a person that has gotten into a fight with you, it wouldn't surprise me your athletic ability."

"Sorry, not in the mood for a rematch I'm afraid," Morgan sighed, walking up to go the ladies bathroom. To her agitation, Nyoko turned and followed her.

It was a small room, slender on both sides, and didn't look like it could fit one, let alone three people, as the booths clearly indicated. There was a little bit of graffiti on the walls, but she was sure not as bad as there would have been in a man's bathroom.

"Sly is here, you know?" the scorpion ninja said, her grin still appearing on her face.

"How nice, is that why you've come?" Morgan asked, washing her hands, and turning to face the other woman. "I hear you gave him quite a kiss."

"Not as good as that _fox_ gives him I imagine, or perhaps not a sweet as those that you used to give," she was chuckling now, testing the waters, and both of them knew it.

"Jealous?" the numbat asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Perhaps, though I saw interest in his eyes in our first encounter in the field," the scorpion said, washing her own hands, her tail being restrained from trying to strangle the other woman by complete will. She was dressed nearly all in black, save for red at her collar, and dark blue earrings.

"Dressed so fancy, tell me, you planning on wooing the raccoon?"

"I could ask you the same thing. People in Barstow have no interest in new business, so I can only assume your interest in in matters of the heart."

Morgan stared at Nyoko, and squinted. "Sorry, dear, I have no time for things so trivial." She pushed by and hurried to get to her plane, which was bound to ready for take off by now. Morgan handed over her ticket, and was at first puzzled, and then angered as the woman handed it back to her.

"There a problem?"

"I'm sorry, but that plane left two hours ago," the woman said with a shake of her head.

"Two hours ago?" Morgan roared and stomped her foot. "The schedule said it was to leave at six o'clock in the evening!"

"Ma'am, it's eight o'clock," the younger woman squeaked, standing away, and cringing under Morgan's stare.

"Eight?" The numbat wasn't very big, a slightly taller woman than Carmelita, but not big nevertheless. She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Now see here, according to my watch, it's…," she stopped and looked at the little device, frowning to see that it had agreed with the girl. _But how could that be?_

She was aware that security was acting edgy around her, their eyes hard and beady as they glared. Morgan felt her body itch, but she decided to let the matter drop. "My apologies, I must have fallen asleep." _You could have woken me up though._ She turned away and went to order another ticket, only to learn there would be no flights to New York City for at least twenty hours. Her fingers were itchy now, ready to pull her blades out and sink them into the bodies of everyone around.

"Fine, I'll just wait for a while then," she groaned. Morgan turned and slumped into her chair, trying to figure out how she lost two in a half hours. She knew it was possible that she fell asleep, her body was still probably in shock after being attacked by the thug, but that didn't account for nobody to cheek up on her. The police, the cab driver, everyone who looked at her looked as if they saw the walking dead. A few had asked if she was okay, if she needed to go to the hospital, or required some other kind of aide, but she had denied them all pleasantly. So if she had fallen asleep, someone should have tried to awaken her, or got her some help. When was it that she had lost the time? It was nearly four o'clock when she had walked into the bathroom, and …

Morgan leapt up to her feet, her eyes wider than as if she had been high on drugs. She blinked and looked around, feeling flushed. Her hand reached into her backpack, and she discovered the chip still there, but it had been gone through. Nyoko had pulled some kind of martial art mind trick while they were in there, to look for the chip, but why hadn't she found it? It was a second search of the bag to discover that she had indeed found it, and what Morgan had been feeling was just another ninja trick.

With speed that no one, save for perhaps a cheetah possessed, Morgan quickly hurried out of the airport, and tracked down her opponent, who had made no attempt to hide her tracks. Twenty minutes passed before she found the ninja, whose back was to her. "Tricky, how long did you know I had the chips?" she growled.

Nyoko turned, looking awfully surprised. "Chips? I thought you had both, but I could only find the one," her hand reached into a sack, and she pulled it out, before putting it back in just as quickly. "When I heard that Sly had lost them, there was no doubt who had them. Goren and Charlie were both in jail, so it was only reasonable that it was you who took them." Her hand reached out and she waved her fingers impatiently. "I'd like very much to have the other one now."

"I'm sure you would, unfortunately I've been very popular recently. I don't have it anymore," Morgan said, her voice gruff. "I'll take that one back though."

"After all I did to get it?" Nyoko smirked.

"It takes a lot of work to brainwash people into losing themselves in an exact period, doesn't it?" Morgan growled.

"For those who have strong minds, yes," Nyoko growled, her eyes narrowing. "You happen to have a very powerful mind." She turned from Morgan and sighed. "You have no idea how powerful these things are, what they're worth."

"So it all boils down to money," Morgan growled, pulling her Katana blades from they're hidden compartments. She made the compartments, so that no one in the airports would discover them from the metal detectors. Her agents constantly asked her why she just didn't take her own planes rather than go to the lengths, but of course she answered that it was the interest of fun, adventure, seeing if she would get caught. Not yet, and she was determined not get to.

"Money? Money, interesting choice of words," the ninja said. "Just let me get out of here, I have another chip to find."

"Sorry, but that's something I have to do, and I'm afraid I can't let you walk off with it."

"This is a woman's job, girl," the ninja snapped.

"That's why a man like Sly decided to be with me, while you had to force him to kiss you," Morgan chuckled.

Nyoko tightened and glared, pulling her whip out. "Don't make this more difficult than it has to be, businesswoman."

"If memory serves me, this businesswoman kicked your ass the last time we met," Morgan snapped, twirling her blades.

"Elisa Fox isn't going to be here to back you up," the scorpion muttered.

"I won't need her to take that chip from you," the numbat quipped.

The scorpion's tail smacked the ground. "You can still back out."

Morgan twirled her blades and rushed forward, dodging an attack with both whip and tail, and spun with a back flip to land to the side of the other woman. The scorpion turned and slashed with her hands, knocking out one of the blades from her fingers.

"Pretty good," Morgan said with a gasp.

"I was the one who cut you with your own blade, remember?" Nyoko said, rising her eyebrow.

"You're not that good," the numbat said, grabbing something from her belt and pulled out a quarterstaff, twirling it in her hands.

"So you're talented with more than one kind of weapon, I have to give you some credit… I suppose." Nyoko pulled back her whip and pulled out another weapon, a scythe. She turned it a little, to let the rising moon light glow on it.

"For a ninja, you don't seem to like to use the normal weapons of your trade," Morgan said, glaring at the other woman.

"On the contrary, as a ninja I know that I have to prepared for anything." She charged the other woman, swinging her sword, and connected it with the quarterstaff. Metal struck metal, the sound of combat filling through the night as they swung their weapons in a display of majestic beauty and deadly skill.

"You are not keeping that chip," Morgan snarled. Using her heel, she flipped up her Katana blade and stabbed the knee of the scorpion. It got her the opening she wanted. Morgan dropped the blades and charged inward, landing a fist against the base of her jaw. The scorpion stumbled, dazed a little, and came forward, to be tripped by a swinging leg kick.

They battled down the hill, farther down toward the desert, until the sand rise knee high. Moisture drenched their bodies and their breathe was slow and wheezing. Their arms were aching their visions were blurring and the cold desert air was chilling every inch of their body that did not until then had a problem. Yet their wills had never been stronger. They studied each other, each willing the other to move, each ready with both an attack, and a counter attack. Yet they stood there, just staring at each other.

"So how much money do you plan on gaining from that chip?" Morgan asked.

"Something's on this planet are worth more than the almighty dollar," the scorpion said.

"Alright so it's not about the money," Morgan said, flinching a little as Nyoko edged toward her. "So information?"

Nyoko smiled and stroked her chin, "You don't get to be a ninja by jus telling your opponents everything that's in your hand."

"Interesting, the same can be said for being a businesswoman," Morgan said with a nod. She threw a smoke bomb to the ground and lurched forward, snatching the chip from the scorpion, and dashing further into the darkness, hoping to gain enough space between the two that Nyoko would not be a problem.

She only managed to get ten minutes of running time before the clever ninja quickly caught up. "I'm a scorpion, I'm used to the heat and cold of the desert," the ninja chuckled. She threw her whip forward, and caught the chip, bringing it back into her possession. "Look, I'm not that bad a person, why not team up with me?"

"Yes, because I've always dreamed of being a sadistic criminal," Morgan scowled, kicking dirt into the scorpion's face and retrieving the chip. Nyoko's tail caught her by the ankle, and dropped her to the ground, the chip flying right out her hands and somewhere in the darkness.

Morgan quickly shot forward and pulled out her quarterstaff, using it like a vaulting pole to get a respectable distance, praying that she had not just shattered the chip. Her free hand yanked down a night vision goggle from her backpack, and onto her head. Her head snapped left and right as she looked for any small heat signature shaped like a rectangle, but so far there was nothing. Small insects, hibernating snakes, and lizards, but no chip. _How far could it had flew?_

Nyoko was back on the ball, her legs pushing her forward, ignoring the sinking feeling as tired limbs began to slowly inch deeper into the soft sand. Whip, tail, and blade twirled, and she launched a renewed attack. "You have no idea what that chip can do, neither than one nor the other, or even both of them combined!"

"Hence why I was looking for information," the numbat growled, twirling in cartwheels to avoid the hyper attack, her eyes still glaring for the chip.

"And hence why I suggested teaming up! I've done a lot of my own information seeking too, and you would be surprised what I've dug up." The two fight with renewed strength and energy. "You could get so much closer to the truth if you just agreed to be my partner, and forget Cooper-san."

"Right now I really don't care much for Sly, I want to know what those chips do!" Morgan said.

"And I could tell you what I know," the scorpion said. "If you would be happy enough to just hand over that chip right now!"

_She doesn't even know that I lost it!_ Morgan frowned. Maybe she didn't have the heat sensors that she had. Maybe she was playing up for time until she found it, just as Morgan was. If that was the case, and Morgan retreated, Nyoko would probably let her go, but if it wasn't. She shook her head, sleep was making her lose sight of what was important here. "Not going to happen Nyoko," she grumbled. The numbat turned and swerved down a path and kept looking. _Where the hell was that chip! _Morgan fought her way to the river, and turned back, trying to arch her way back to where it was that she lost the chip. Her heart was sinking, they had been fighting over four hours, not stop, and the ninja was no where near backing down. Fatigue started to sink in, and Morgan was on the edge of giving up.

"You've surprised me," Nyoko said, narrowing her eyes. "Of course scorpions can see at night, so I knew where you were, ever step of the way, yet you haven't quite." Her tail flipped. "Still the fight is obviously over. I want that chip now."

"Nyoko, if you could see in the dark, you'd know that I lost in in the early stages of the combat," Morgan gasped, her hand slipping into her back pack.

"You're a liar," the scorpion growled, her tail striking the ground.

"And you're about to be as blind as a bat," Morgan said. She pulled her night vision goggles off, and tossed a light grenade, slamming harming illumination straight into the scorpion's night eyes. The numbat turned and ran off, listening to the ninja howl with pain. She might have caught up, her ninja senses sharp, but the numbat was now running on what little bit of adrenaline she had left remaining.

Morgan looked for at least another hour for the remaining chip, but there was nothing to be found. The chip seemed to have vanished into the shifting sands. The numbat sighed and went back the airport, a victor of sorts, but also very much a loser.

 

After the two women had disappeared, the thug collected the dropped chip, and vanished into the darkness. It had taken him just a few hours to go where he had to, before getting on a jet, and heading for Cairo. The jackal slinked into the crowd once he was in Egypt and eventually managed to make it to the largest pyramid. "I have it," he said to a black crow.

"A good thing too … for you." He nodded his head, and the jackal entered, delivering the package to his master, a clocked figure, whose eyes glowed in the night.

"Very good, our master is one step closer to realizing his dream," the figure said.

"I thought you were the one in charge boss," the jackal said, his eyes blank. A second later, he was dead from a gun shot.

"We needed blood, it was so nice of him to volunteer," the dark figure said. The jackal's blood was collected, and poured into a small golden bowl, which was then brought to a medium sized alter. "The time is come for his next agent to be freed … so that chaos may reign." Slowly, urgently the figure chanted in ancient Egyptian and brought the two chips together, placing them inside a computer.

More hooded figures approached the alter, and chanted, their eyes filled with dark flames.

"This is foolishness," a woman's voice pleaded. "You should stop this at once!"

"Claire, do be quite," the hooded figure said.

"But what does this have to do with Sly Cooper? He's just a boy!"

"I said quite!" the figure howled with rage. The blood in the bowl seemed to bumble with life and flowed downward into a basin that already was seeping blood from other areas of the pyramid, following howls of pain and agony. Lights seemed to dim as the basin filled to the brim, and the computer flashed with life itself, electric currents from the machine striking the blood.

"Emmanuel, please stop this madness," the woman cried.

Emmanuel turned and pointed a gun at the woman in the cage. "Would you like to have your blood join the others?" The woman blinked and slinked into the darkness.

As she did so, a figure emerged from the blood, created from flesh and machine. Neyla flexed her muscles and looked at her small cult of followers, and then to Emmanuel. "You look so familiar," she said with a snide smile. Her voice was cold, and echoing as her hard metal feet clamped forward.

"Except for the color, I might be," the villain added with his own. "How does it feel to be back among the living?"

"Not as good as it will be to squeeze the last breath of air," the cyber woman said.

"Well, do remember to wait for a while, there's certain things our employer needs before Sly can face the final curtain."

"Oh don't worry, I intend. I do indeed intend too." Darkness enveloped them all, leaving nothing but Neyla's hateful eyes glowing in the shadows.

_**Well another chapter down, and it just keeps getting creepier. I hope to have six chapters for you all by the time I submit, but this is a brand new computer, so I really have to rewrite and focus my attentions on my other stories. I hope you guys don't mind. I should be house sitting twice in May so if I don't get six chapters, I should make up for it then. Okay, on to chapter 24! My character is going to debut. **_


	24. It all begins in Egypt

_**Ziggy's Corner: Okay this is the twenty-fourth chapter. Not much action here, Sly and gang get to Calico in time to find Morgan Skye gone, but also in time to find my character, and some information. I have a feeling this chapter is going to be a short one. Next chapter picks up a little action. **_

They had missed her, Sly didn't know by how much, but it was obvious that Morgan Skye was gone, and that there had been a confrontation. The handsome raccoon kicked himself for not being there, what if something happened? What if she had been hurt, or killed?

"It couldn't be helped, Sly," Bentley tried to console. "Besides reports said that she left on a plane for Australia."

"So, what, are we just going to turn around and head back to Australia?" Murray asked. He looked at the two of them and blinked as they got lost in thought.

"No, not yet," Sly said as he shook his head. "Morgan came here for some reason, and I think it might be best if we discover what that was first."

"I agree," Bentley said. "In my intercepted records of her computer data, I discovered she was meeting a priest."

"A priest?" Sly frowned.

"His name is Hayden Mac Callum," the turtle said as they walked through the old silver mining town. People from around the world travel through its streets, glaring at them for a while, before moving on. Murray liked watching the arm wresting events, and Bentley was fascinated with the steel making around the area. Sly couldn't help but think of the boys were here, they'd like the candy store, and the fake gun battles, while Carmelita would be buying candles.

"Fr. Mac Callum?" a man asked, walking up to them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ease drop, actually caught only the last bit of your conversation, but I know him." The tall rabbit took a step back as they stared at him and put his large hands in his pockets. "Of course, I should mind my own business."

"No, wait," Sly said as the man took a step back. "We'd be most appreciative for your help."

The rabbit studied them for a very long time, and frowned, not sure if he should say anything next. He blinked and turned away. "Well, if you want to find him, you'd better hurry, he's probably packing his things and heading for Scotland sometime soon." He pointed a bag in the area where the priest lived. "He has a renta house just a little ways up that he uses for the spring and late fall. It's the big tan building."

"Thank you," Sly said. His band began to hurry off, but were stopped as an elderly man stopped them. "You boys don't need to be going there. That man is nothing but trouble, betrayed the Church, reads sorcery manuals, the such. A real dark seed, that one."

"We'll take that into account," Sly promised.

"Its no wonder he was deflocked, by Rome," the old geezer snarled. "No good piece of trash like that."

"He's not a no good piece of trash, he's a good man," the rabbit insisted, pushing back through. "He was a bit more conservative than what his church's leaders wanted."

"Fucking piece of bull shit," the man snarled. "He's evil, pure and simple."

Sly and company watched the two men argue, and slowly slipped away. "Okay either they're both crackpots, or they just really can't stand each other," Sly said with a chuckle.

"Maybe they both had too much old, old fashioned root beer," Murray said with a smile.

"All kidding aside," Bentley said as they walked up to the house, "he _is_ a defrocked priest. And from what I read, he does have a major library of occultic books. It would be best if we took caution."

They approached the building, a long ark like thing that looked like it was built by the Native Americans, rather than the Chinese who had been based in this part of the town in the nineteenth century. There were only two glass panes for windows, and a large wooden door, which two scantily clad vixens guarded.

"What's with the candy?" Sly asked, inching near Bentley. "Odd guards for a priest of all things to keep."

"We're friends of Fr. Mac Cullum," the large tan brown golden retriever snapped. "And yes, I have very good hearing, thank you."

"She's Tina, I'm, Dominic," the German Shepherd said, her accent making Sly cringe as he remembered Dr. Goren. "Fr. Mac Cullum 'saved' us, you could say. We're were models for different internet companies, which I'd rather not get into. After talking to him, he convinced us to turn away from the path we were on, and we followed him ever since."

"Of course he had to beat some sense into our last employer to let us go," Tina chuckled darkly. Dominic eyed her partner, and smirked.

"And you're dressed like strippers why?" Bentley asked.

Dominic's grin pulled up larger. "Would you give us a moments thought, walking up to us?" She waited for an answer. Both women were tall, but there was not much too them, and the very little bit of clothes they wore made it hard to hide any weapons. "We are both tougher than we look. Both Tina and I have black belts, in four different martial arts."

"And even if you got by us, there are two other girls inside, plus one of our former internet employers, that the good priest saved," Tina said, winching a little as Dominic glared at her.

"Even if you got by them, well, being a Komodo Dragon has its advantage," Dominic said.

"We'd like to talk to the priest, if that's okay," Bentley said.

"About what?" the woman snapped in unison.

"I imagine about the same thing that a certain numbat wanted to talk about." A seven foot tall, Komodo Dragon walked out of the door. He smiled at the woman, not wanting to insult his little band of "children" about their clothing, which he also did not agree with. But even he had to admit, it was disarming, and an excellent disguise. He looked at the raccoon, then to the turtle, then lastly to the hippo, baring his teeth. "Though the question is, why?" The priest was massive, large tree trunk arms, legs, though he had a pot belly. His scales were a mixture of both brown and green, and his tongue was nearly as long as he was.

"We wanted to get some computer chips away from her, and study them," Sly said.

Hayden's heavy head pounced up and down. "Interesting things, those chips."

"What do you know about them," Sly began to ask. The priest held up a fat finger and silenced him.

"And I should tell you why?" he pressed his glasses to his face and looked at them. "How do I know that you aren't one of the dark angel's agents?"

"Dark angel?" Bentley asked. Were the stories of him being into the occult true?

Hayden looked at his girls, and back at the group, sighing sadly. "If you aren't people of good intention, you might regret walking into my home." He waited and shrugged, "Come in then."



"Would you care for refreshments?" Hayden asked. Sly and his friends thanked him, and they sat down in a large green couch staring at the priest, and his body guards from inside, a polar bear named Charston, a small monkey named Dana, and an insect named Karrie watched carefully as they stood behind their "father".

Bentley carefully noted the room, with the books about vampires, ghosts, witchcraft. "Did you leave the Church to become a sorcerer?" Karrie, a French Praying Mantis, with a long black ponytail stiffened and narrowed her eyes. The inside guards wore more clothes than the ones outside, and seemed more formidable.

Hayden smiled, "I've done a lot of bad things, gave into temptation way too often, and almost nearly used Confession everyday for the same sins, but no… I never left the Church."

"We were told that you were," Sly began, sipping his tea.

"Defrocked?" Hayden asked with a smile, his sharp teeth gleaming in the light from the sun. He chuckled.

"He was," Karrie growled, "but not for witchcraft."

"Those pinheads in the Vatican thought father was a bit too… conservative," Charston said.

Hayden chuckled and looked at his children. Off all of them Dana seemed more like a cousin, or a twin sister. Before his defrocking she entertained thoughts of entering the convent. "Not Pre-Vatican II Conservative, mind you, I know the Church needs to grow, but they didn't like my talks of hell and such. I was told I'd have to use medication if I wanted to continue to preach, and I turned them down. So they took my life insurance, and what not."

"Then what's with all the books?" Murray asked.

Again Hayden smiled. "I have a keen interest in folklore. Most of this I do not believe in, and the ninety percent I do, I really don't follow."

"So where do you go when not in Calico?" Sly asked.

"Everywhere," the priest said. "Mainly in Loch Ness. I've never really seen Nessie myself, but I have heard of people who have. And I enjoy the weather and the scenery."

The group was quite for a while, and then Hayden rose and took a book from the shelf. "But on to more pressing matters. Those chips you talked about. They are quite powerful, and for the most part, evil surrounds them." He looked at them cautiously. "Not disrespect your parents evil, or torture evil. We're talking about forces of demonic origin."

Sly had seen evil, fought it over and over. But none of it other than Clockwerk could be called demonic. Murray tightened and looked away, paling. He had heard from his friend about his battle with the orphanage bully. In all actuality he'd seen it with Carmelita after the fight with Charlie, how he had begged something, or someone to let him stay to fight.

"I see from your eyes that you've seen what I'm talking about," Hayden said. He flipped through a book and sighed, "The name of the demon is not mentioned, perhaps forgotten for a long time, but we know he had a cult in ancient Egypt who worshipped the demon. It was created by a prince, who for some reason or the other, took up rage against a small clan of thieves."

Sly felt his throat tighten. A prince who had a vengeance against thieves from ancient Egypt? "What was his name?"

Karrie walked up to some books and flipped through the pages. Finally she came across a name and handed the book to the priest. Haden looked at it and nodded thanking the woman. "Here it is, his name was Prince Runihura, an owl and…," he noticed as Sly's skin paled. "You all right, son?"

It was too much for coincidence. Sly asked if he could see the book, but Fr. Mac Cullum had told him it was in Hieroglyphs. Bentley was able to read it, and as he did, he too paled. "Sly, this … this is …,"

"Clockwerk," Sly said. So now there was a little bit more information and history to go with the Thievious Raccoonous.

"He tried to create a revolution in Egypt, holding for a blood bath, but two brave souls stopped him. One being Moses himself, the other, a thief. The prince couldn't take his rage out on Moses, as he and the Hebrews left Egypt after that, so he turned his rage to the thief. As to whatever happened after that," Hayden shrugged.

Sly hesitated, but decided to fill the priest in, after all he'd shown his hand, it was only fair Sly showed his. Hayden listened, his eyes widening and he shook his head. "My boy you have been through a lot. My prayers go out to you."

"If you don't mind, why didn't you met with Morgan Skye?" Sly asked.

"I wanted to," the priest said. "I seriously wanted to, but unfortunately something I ate the previous night did not agree with me. I tried to email the girl and let her know this, but someone was blocking my account, as I tried to get to her computer."

Bentley blushed and chuckled. "Sorry."

Hayden looked at him and chuckled. "All joking aside, my son, you must be both diligent, and careful. The Cult is ruthless, cruel and vicious. It will not stop in anything to make their goals a reality."

"Can you point us in the next direction?" Sly asked.

"Hoping that the girl still has at least one of those chips, I heard she was attacked the night I was supposed to meet her, you're best bet is to go find her, and make sure it's secure. Other than that," Hayden shrugged and sighed again, the sound coming from his mouth sounding like a tea cup whistling.

Sly thanked the priest, who promised to pray for the group of thieves, and the company turned and left the building. They walked back to the headquarters and rested up, as soon as Sly made a flight going to Australia. _I feel like we're yo-yos here._

_**And the chapter ends. More Mystery, more loose ends, but now we get a glimpse of Clockwerk's past. I hope you enjoyed it, and on to the twenty fifth chapter. The action picks up! Oh, what did you think of my character? I hope he was good!**_


	25. Rumble in the Church

_**Ziggy's Corner: 25th Chapter! And still going strong. There is going to be more action in this chapter than in the last one, but this too is going to be a short chapter. The next chapter the 26th will be a long one, possibly around eight or nine pages. So that being said, on with the show folks!**_

"Forgive me father, for I have sinned," came the voice from behind the screen. Ivan Peter Fox waited for the continuation, but it never came.

"Are you still there, child?" there was some shuffling of knees as the male behind the screen shifted uncomfortably.

"I can't think of any sin I have committed, father, my mother insisted that I come here."

Ivan had to chuckle. How many times had he heard this type of confession? "I had no idea I was in the presence of my Lord and Savior."

"Excuse me?" the boy asked, taken back a little.

"No sins? You must be Jesus then." There was an uncomfortable silence coming from the boy and the priest laughed again. "Let me ask you a few things, before you leave, my son. When was the last time you said a simple prayer to our Lord when you had a chance instead of playing video games, or watching television?"

"I dunno," the boy said. "I just pray at church and that's it."

"So you have no free time of your own?" The boy admitted he did, and yes he would play basketball, or play video games, or watch television. "Then you have broken the very first commandment, you have put other things before God."

The boy was taken back, and the priest could hear him gasp. Ivan chuckled, "Don't despair in that my son, most of us, in fact all of us are guilty of breaking that commandment at one point or time. In fact, if you brake any of the other nine, you've automatically broken the first."

"I'm not sure I understand father, isn't it, 'Thou shalt not have any strange _gods_ before me?" the boy asked. Ivan smiled at this.

"Very good, you know your commandments. Yes that's what it said, but when you put anything before God, when you could just give him a few minutes you make these new things a god in your life."

Ivan then began to go through each and every other commandment. He had acknowledged that from time to time, he swore and said Jesus' name in vein, as well as wished someone to hell; there went the second commandment. The boy hadn't prayed nor read the Bible, nor watched spiritual uplifting programming during Sunday, down went the third commandment. He snuck out during the night, and would argue with his parents, bang fourth commandment broke. His room was a mess and had been for a long time. That was bad for his health, and thus, he had broken the fifth commandment. While he didn't watch any negative shows, and had stayed clear of filthy sites and magazines, he had glared and thought what it would be like to have relations with bikini clad models and women on the beach.

"There's nothing wrong with looking at a beautiful woman, and admiring God's work, my son, but its when you decide to take it to the next level, even in your mind when it becomes sinful." Ivan explained.

The boy had indeed stolen a pack of gum, he had spread gossip to get back at someone in his school he didn't like, the seventh and eight commandments broken. After fifteen minutes, the boy was breathing like he had run a marathoon, and Ivan could only feel sorry for him. Many priests these days would have chased anyone claiming not to have sinned out, to make extra time for anyone else, and so they could leave when the thirty minutes were up. Ivan despised those types of men, unless of course they were the only priest in the parish, and had schedules they had to keep. Still he didn't like the idea of chasing people out because they couldn't think of anything to confess, or simply confessed less serious, venial type sins instead of mortal ones. To Ivan, they might be venial and thus less significant, but they were still sins, and thus very serious indeed.

"Take heart," he conseled the boy. "When I was your age, I had broken _all_ ten commandments at one time!" He chuckled, he had remembered his confessor's near heart attack about hearing all these transgressions. He had been lucky to find a good, kind hearted man, who looked at the person instead of the sinner. "Are you sorry for all these sins?"

"Yes father," the boy said, at the edge of tears finding out what kind of person he had been.

"Then for your penance, say two Rosaries …," he paused, "you know what they are?" The boy admitted he knew them, but didn't know how to use them. Ivan reached into his pocket, and slipped out a piece of paper, detailing the Rosary. "Read this, and then pray two of them, not all in one setting, perhaps one tonight, the other tomorrow, and make a good Act of Contrition." The boy said the words of the Act of Contrition, and the priest forgave him his sins.



Twenty minutes later, Ivan opened the door and entered into the church, his eyes scanning the area for his younger sister, and brothers. He found them a ways off, and walked up to him, quietly as his sister seemed to be deep in prayer. As he got closer, Ivan could see better. Gracia was peering down at her PSP, watching an episode of America's Top Model. He edged into the pew behind them, and put a finger, to silence his giggling brothers, Gabriel and Christian. For a few minutes he watched her watch the program, resting his hand on his chin as he leaned his elbow on the pew.

A few minutes later, the program ended, and Gracia turned the machine off, looking at her brothers, who were desperately trying not to giggle. "What's the matter with the two of your, this is a church, you should be quite."

"If that's not a kettle calling the pot black," Ivan whispered in her left ear. The teenager leapt from the pew, bonking her twenty six year old brother on his chin, and screamed as if an axe murderer was right behind her, her arms flapping as if she wanted to fly away, her head shaking back and forth as her lungs pushed out any remaining air.

Christian and Gabriel couldn't stand it anymore, bursting into hysterics at the actions of their older sister. Gracia turned a dark gaze toward the boys, and then glared at her older brother. "What is the matter with you?" she hissed. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Ivan smirked. "Would it keep you from bringing video game machines into the church, and help you concentrate on your meditations?"

"Very funny, Ivan," she snapped sarcastically. "Anyway I said all of my prayers."

"No you didn't, you plopped right into the pew and started watching the video gamie thing," Christian said.

Gracia turned an evil eye to her brother and lowly hissed. Ivan caught that and smiled, "If you don't care about spending time in Purgatory, then I suppose I shouldn't either." He then turned and looked into her face. "Of course I'd be a pretty lowly brother and bad at my job if that was true." He chuckled. "So you can just finish your prayers now, and then we can go to the movies."

The boys didn't like that idea. "It'll take forever!" they cried in unison.

"I don't give Rosaries to everyone," the priest said with a laugh. "She starts now, we'll only miss a few of the previews."

"I would suggest that she start in the car, on the way to our employer," a harsh, heavy voice said.

They turned to look at a heavily armed jackal who smirked at them, waving a large black gun at their chests. "It would be wise not to resist, this is a house of God after all, I'd hate to spill innocent blood here."

"Then I suggest you leave, such dead words are not suitable for a house of God either." Ivan knew these types of individuals. Their whole family did. This jackal would love to spill blood all over these floors.

"Sorry, padre, but I have a job to do, and I do not intend to leave empty handed." He looked at the priest's sister, and then at the boys, and then at an admiring glare at his sister again, one that lasted far too long for Ivan's taste.

"You will not be going with anything. Unless you might be happy to confess your sins," he added.

"I would very much rather take my pay, it lasts a little bit longer than in the long run."

"Then you have no interest in eternity," the priest said, trying to secretly edge his siblings to the edge of the church. The jackal chuckled.

"Your God has had a most blissfully long run, but as in everything, all good things come to an end. There's time for a new deity now."

"As has been said for nearly five thousand years," Ivan snapped, pushing his siblings near the alter, feeling his sister's dread.

"Get out now," Gabriel said in a very brave face.

"You're not welcome here," Christian added.

The jackal chuckled. "Well now … I was under the impression that all were welcomed in Christ's house."

"Not when they're trying to create chaos and sin," Ivan finished. "Now leave."

The jackal looked as if he would consider it, and then fired the gun with a shrug, gritting his teeth in pain, as Ivan surged forward and grabbed his arm, bending it back behind him, and twisting it up almost over his head. "I will not tell you again," Ivan said, kicking the semi automatic weapon as it landed on the floor. "Leave."

The jackal ground his teeth, and pulled his other hand free, jabbing a knife into the priest's side, making Ivan yelp in pain, and his siblings gasping in concern. He smiled and forced the blade in thicker, Ivan releasing his grip and dropping to a knee, feeling blood slip between his fingers, and splash against the floor of the church.

"You know, I was told you were quite the fighter, padre," the jackal said. "I should have listened." He turned and glared at the children. "The boys, have grown. And the girl is very pretty too… I'm going to have a lot of fun with her before handing her over to my employer."

Ivan was a man of peace, graceful and quick to forgive, but now his Fox blood was boiling and he could feel the power of hate surging forward. "You leave her alone, you basta…,"

The jackal turned and kicked him in his lower jaw. "You really should watch your mouth, padre, being a man of God and all." He chuckled as the boys tried to defend their brother, and Ivan's reactions to the pain, fear, and rage. "Don't worry, my employer would kill me if I shed a drop of her blood, or defiled her in some way, but there are other … games we could play." He turned back to the girl again, and hissed in agony as she slammed her PSP at his face. Glass and plastic shattered all over the place, more blood dropping to the floor.

Ivan took his siblings and rushed to the back of the church, pushing them out the door. "Head to the car, and lock the door. Call the police."

"But Ivan, what about…," Gracia began.

"No, you just do what you need to do," Ivan snapped. He locked the back door, and turned back to see the jackal inching forward toward him, holding the gun again.

"You know, your family has been more than a pain in the neck for Lord Emmanuel," the fiend snapped, stopping short as if he realized he had done something he should not have. "At any rate, this should end this now."

"I could not agree with you more," Ivan said. He arched into a defensive position, and waited for the attack. A few shots were fired, and he began arching and dodging, wishing this was one of those Matrix movies he'd heard about, but never watched where the hero could slow down time and dodge the deadly missiles. But it wasn't, and Ivan could feel the small pieces of metal dig into his flesh. He managed to avoid some of them, and those that hit him weren't all that serious, but he was hurt. Still he pushed on further, dodging and weaving until he was nearly breath to breath to him. Ivan's arm tensed, and he pulled it back, jamming it with his whole might to bring the jackal down.

The fiend managed to dodge it, and then enter an attack of his own, which Ivan blocked. Back and forth the two men traded and blocked blows, the jackal managing to drop his weapon to concentrate on the further battering of his opponent. For a priest he was surprisingly strong, much stronger than the stories about him said.



Ivan Peter Fox was going no where in life, he hadn't been since he had been nine. Con artistry, thieving, destruction of public property, he had even joined a gang, and ran off from home for two in a half years. The only thing Ivan didn't do was drugs, and that was the one time he'd tried them, they had made him so physically sick, he nearly thought he was going to die.

It was that epiphany, lying on the ground, nearly dying on his vomit, when he realized that what he had perceived as overbearing control by his mother and father, was simply their way of protecting him from the anarchy of the world. He had managed to survive that night, and make his way home. His father was pissed at him, but relieved to see him alive. After a lot of counseling, there was a time when he thought he might re-enter that dark world, when he conceded into going to confession at his mother's begging. The priest had been a nearly seventy five year old owl, and was a decent man, and very kind hearted. He counseled the boy that night, and the following night, and every night for nearly eight years.

Then Ivan learned his mentor was dying, and he rushed from the police academy which he had only just entered, to be with the old man. They spoke for many hours. Finally, he promised Fr. Hans, that he would follow in his footsteps. He arrived that day, ready to begin his career as a police officer, and left that day, ready to enter a vocation of helping others as a priest of God.

Needless to say, his father was outraged. Ivan hadn't been one to stay with one thing for very long. His desertion of the police academy not only seemed to prove this to him, but it also stung. "Are you out of your damned mind again young man!" he roared. "Now you wish to be a priest?"

His wife snapped back at him. "So what, what better place for such a child?"

"And if he get's bored with this? Police work has been in the family for a long time."

"So has being part of the Church," she had howled. "You have four younger siblings who have the same vocation as our son wishes to enter. You're brother Alano, has just been appointed a bishop of all things, can you really be this angry at the boy?"

Peter Ivan had not been sure. True his side of the family had given the world a large enlistment of the priesthood, and nuns, but Ivan was just so flighty, what if he decided to leave this too?" Ultimately he relented.

Schooling to be a priest, was a thousand times harder than being in the police, or military. He was grueling, it forced him to swallow a lot of pride, taking into confidence, Therese the Little Flower as his patron saint. She too had it rough, she too had been looked down on, and many times thought to speak back, but swallowed her own pride.

It was not easy, but Ivan was determined to keep his promise he had made to Fr. Hans. He became a priest just a year in a half ago. And for a while served other priests, before word got out to the local bishop, probably in thanks to his uncle, of his devotion.



Now he was hand to hand with a thug. His hatred which he had thought he had buried so long ago, resurfaced, and his determination to protect the building and his siblings forced him to push on, fist for fist, pound for pound, step for step. Finally the jackal made a wrong step, and Ivan took full advantage of it. He swiveled on his heels, delivered a powerful round house, and knocked the fiend backwards, where he slipped and fell, breaking his neck.

Ivan turned and blinked, not believing what hand happened. His lips quivered, and he dropped to his knees. "Dear, merciful God, forgive me," he wept. He'd never meant to kill the jackal. To shed blood in his Father's house. Silently he said a prayer for the man's soul, and went to cheek on his brothers and sister, only to see more jackals finally breaking into his car, the engine roaring, and taking off with them. His lips pulled back, and he rushed forward, the one word coming out of his throat, was a loud, glutteral no.

The car disappeared, around the corner, and Ivan dropped to his knees yet again. Yet again he'd let down a father, his Heavenly Father in there, his biological father out here. His mind snapped and his hand seemed to reach into his pocket out of its own movements. It dialed the number, and he waited for someone to pick up. "I… I…," he seemed to lose his voice with each second.

"Sir, I'm hanging up now," the woman on the other side snapped.

"Wait," Ivan forced the word out. "My name is Fr. Ivan Fox, I'm Detective Peter Fox's son. Please… please I need to speak with him now. It's an emergency."

_**Boy the Fox family doesn't have good luck when it comes to being NOT kidnapped do they? Poor Ivan, I hope he can find peace in all of this. Anyway, the next chapter! Both Heiduska's and the Divine One's character's will be fully seen! I hope you girls like them! Yes I know that Heidi's character was in a previous chapter but that was really a flash back. You get to know more about her in the next one. Okay onward Ho!**_


	26. Girl Time

_**Ziggy's Corner: And the 26th Chapter! Not much action, but some mystery's are solved, and a new player (at least his name at any rate) comes to the fore front. On with the show!**_

Her cell phone rang as she left the store and Carmelita picked it up and looked at it. _Please let it be Sly._ The name came up and she smiled, flicking the on button as she huddled in a little corner. "Hey there Ringtail, have you called to tell me that you're turning yourself in, finally?" She smiled as he laughed.

"Sorry, officer, but I have business in Australia, so I don't have time to go into the police station."

Her face screwed up. "So you won't be home this week?"

Sly sighed and shook his head, inching down his chair as he road in the plane. "Sorry babe, we nearly got those chips back in the States, but Morgan gave us the slip." He didn't want to tell her too much, he didn't want to worry her. "But we heard that she was heading back to Australia, so that's where we'll be going." He could tell that her Latina flare was rising, and he smiled, "So, what are you wearing?"

She narrowed her eyes and bit her lips. She wanted him home, she wanted to fell his strong arms wrapped around her waist, to feel his gently lips pressed against hers. A moment later, she smiled, "You really want to know?" she asked seductively, her body swaying back and forth of its own accord as she tried to look sexy.

"Go ahead," Sly said with a chuckle of his own. A few minutes later he was flushed with a red face, eyes the size of dinner plates, and he could feel his chest pound as his heart picked up. His hands were quivering, and he had to just smile as Bentley and Murray were just looking at him and shaking their heads. He glared at the turtle, _As if Rose Marie doesn't talk to you like this._ Then he had to mentally laugh, she probably didn't, she was too prim and proper.

Carmelita continued her sensuous details of what she was wearing, doing, and what she'd do to him once he came home. Mentally she dared him to hang up, knowing he couldn't. It was kind of fun to 'torment' him a little bit like this. Her own body was flushed with blood as she talked, thankful her parents were not present. "You be sure to hurry home, Ringtail," she cooed. "Or I'll have to hunt you down, and do things that can't even be mentioned on a cell phone." She was getting a second message, a mail picture, and she clicked it when she saw it was from Bentley's account. Carmelita nearly wet her pants laughing so hard as a picture of a beat red raccoon in blue clothes was biting down on his knuckles to calm himself down. "Am I getting to you, handsome?" she teased.

It took a long time for Sly to find his voice, but as he did, he chuckled and admitted that it was possible that she'd had gotten him a little flustered. "Well I don't want to be too mean. Click on your phone a few hours from now, and I'll have some very nice pictures for you." She waited till she heard him gasp, and squealed with girlish giggling. "You won't believe how tall Christian is getting," she added.

"I'll call you later, he promised, and then hung up. Carmelita was alone yet again, and would have been before her phone rang again, and she went to pick it up, seeing her father's name.

"Carmmie!" a perky voice called out. The inspector turned to look at Ruta bounding toward her, a large smile, a medium patch of hair covering her left eye. She was an arctic fox, her fur white though it sometimes turned to a light shade of brown when it turned warm. Her eyes were a mixture of both brown and a little blue. "I never thought I'd find you."

"Super girl had a hard time finding someone?" Carmelita asked with a bright smile. Ruta frowned and sighed, putting her hands on her hips.

"I said I'm more like Wonder Woman, and so what? I'm only mortal." She was dressed conservatively, wearing long stylish pants, a cute white tee shirt with some kind of boy band on it. She smiled. "Anyway we've been sent orders by the new commissioner of Interpol," Ruta continued. "Commissioner Victor Arcan has ordered all agents to go to Vienna for a world conference."

Carmelita frowned, ignoring her father's call, obvious he had been trying to contact her to tell her the same. "What for?"

"Guess he just wants to met the troops," Ruta said, and then squeaked as she looked over at a store, and saw it was having a major sale. "Oh my gosh! Look at those shoes!"

"You have all the shoes a girl could ever want," Carmelita protested.

"True, but you don't," Ruta laughed. "I mean how many boots can a girl have? What, you in the military or something?"

Carmelita rose an eyebrow and cocked her head. "Oh is that so?" She poked her friend in her ribs, and smiled as Ruta squealed again, pulling away. "What's so funny?" Carmelita asked, inching toward her and dancing three of her fingers around Ruta's midsection, "I don't think I said anything funny, so why laugh?"

Ruta's sparkly eyes grew wide and she edged away from her friend, her back leaning against a stone wall, her breath getting faster as Carmelita hunched down, her fingers wiggling around like worms ready to find a sensitive spot. "You wouldn't dare," Ruta gasped.

"Come on, how long has it been since we've had a tickle fight?" Carmelita giggled.

Ruta was more ticklish than Carmelita, but she had something that Carmelita didn't have going for her. She had a stronger constitution, and when push came to shove, was harder to break and cry uncle. She smiled and hunched herself, rushing forward and grabbing her friend's leg, tossing her gently to the ground. A few seconds later, she had a boot off, and smiled as she placed a slender finger on the middle of Carmelita's right foot. Her friend gasped.

"Don't," Carmelita gasped. Her eyes were a little pleading, but there was no real fear in them, as there had been with Dr. Goren.

Ruta smirked, "You going to let me buy you some decent shoes?" She was small, and frail looking, but she was incredibly strong. She waited for a reply and then moved her hand to her best friend's toes. "This little piggy," she began, smiling as Carmelita started chuckling and collapsing to the ground.

"Pleeheheheeeeehhehees," she giggled.

Ruta moved to the second and then the third toe, "This little piggy wiggled in the cool air, this little piggy crawled into the pen to get away from Ruta, this little piggy made Carmmie squeal with laughter…," she was having fun, Carmelita's face was turning bright red, and it hadn't even been a minute yet. She paused, partly to let her friend get some breathe, after all she wasn't sadistic, just having some fun, and to build suspense. "You do know what this piggy said, right Carmie," she said in a sing song voice.

"STOOHAHAHAHAAAAAHAOOOPP!" Carmelita screamed. Ruta smiled and shook her head.

"Nope, it said, 'Cochi Cochi Coo!'," Ruta said happily as she wiggled her fingers one at a time over the middle part of her friend's foot, dancing them around like little ballerina's or ice skaters. Carmelita laughed and rolled around, kicking her foot to free it from her friend's play. "Going to let me buy you some shoes, or do I have to get the other foot?" Ruta asked with a giggle.

Unfortunately she forgot the most important thing in a fight, especially a tickle fight. Never take your eyes off your opponent. Carmelita lurched forward still laughing and grasped her friend's sides, squeezing them as she brought Ruta on top of her. "Cochi Coo to you too, girl," she laughed.

Ruta screamed and wiggled over, trying to free herself from her friend's playful grip, her eyes turning watery as she laughed, Carmilta's fingers exploring her sides and ribs. "Maybe I should go for your underarms," Carmelita teased.

"No, no hohohohoho!" Ruta squealed, finally managing to pry herself free from Carmelita. "Okay, okay it's a tie," she said gasping for air.

"It usually is," Carmelita chuckled, rubbing her bare foot, and then placing her boot back over it.

"Okay, I get it, no new shoes," Ruta said with a laugh, still rubbing her sides. "So what do you say I buy you a late lunch, or early dinner?"

"Well, I suppose so, but when are we supposed to go to this meeting?" Carmelita asked, glaring at passersby as they stared at the two young women. _What never seen two friends in a playful tickle fight?_ her scowled forced them to walk away and she continued to talk to her friend.

"The what?"

"The meeting the new commissioner said he wanted all of us to go to?" The sky was turning a nice shade of dark blue, it was nearing four o'clock, and the clouds too were changing from white to a little pink. "The one you told me about?"

Ruta stared at her friend and then shook herself out of her stupor. "Oh, that," she said with a giggle. "Its supposed to happen in a week from today." They continued to walk and talk, when all of the sudden Ruta squealed and grabbed her friend, "Oh look at that!"

"Another clothing store?" Carmelita asked with a sigh.

Ruta shook her head. "No, no, there's a new music store there! Oh, and look! It has Disney sheet music! Organ music, but its basically the same, I can read it for my piano!"

"You actually need more music?" Carmelita asked, giggling at the thought of the younger woman's collection of sheet music from all over the world… so much sheet music she had to rent a shed to put all of it in. "And what will your cat, Kasper think of this?"

"Kasper loves my playing, and he loves Disney music too!" she said enthusiastically. She jumped again, "Oh, Beethoven! That tears it, grandfather will love that!" Carmelita sighed as her friend grasped her arm, and pulled her into the store before sharing a meal with her, an hour in a half later; Ruta's arms so loaded with sheet music, a few music videos, and at least twenty Cds that she could barely see where she was going. And the funny thing was, right before going to the diner, Ruta discovered a shop selling different kinds of animation for her younger cousins, especially a DVD of something called Avatar the Last Airbender.

Carmelita just sighed and watched her friend spend her money for those she loved the most, and then enjoyed a wonderful piece of steak. _Sorry Sly, you're going to wait for that phone photo I promised you. _



Half way round the world, another two childhood friends were meeting. Morgan, disappointed about the Calico meeting, had gone back home, to an old acquaintance. Well not old really, though she was older than Morgan, but only by a couple of years. Gwendolyn Crane looked at her friend, her black head feathers twitching a little as she looked at her. "I'll make this blunt," she said in a proper, thick Australian accent, "I have no interest in joining you with a criminal spree again."

Morgan looked at the bird and smiled, for a good while she had been the 'Bentley' to Morgan's 'Sly'. "I wouldn't think of it," the numbat said. "I just wanted to ask if you knew anything about certain disks."

Gwendolyn looked at her friend again, "You do realize that I'm a history, not a technician," she said. After parting ways, Gwendolyn turned to a love of history, especially of World War II, but there were bit's and pieces of history from all over the place that she had a great knowledge of.

"I'm talking about ancient Egypt," Morgan continued.

"All right, either one of two things happened here," Gwendolyn sighed. "Either you are an alien whose abducted the real Morgan, and are now trying convince me of such, or your drinking heavily again, because you are not making sense."

Morgan carefully explained the situation, watching the tall bird frown and tap her chin. When she was finished her race was as red as a cherry and her eyes were watering. "That's as much as I can tell you, Gwen," she said, gasping for air.

"So these chips are harbingers to a bigger threat to the world?" Her friend nodded. "Was there anything of use you could tell me of the thug who attacked you?" a shake of the head promoted her to sigh. "Boy, when you give a mystery you really give a mystery!"

The crane stood up and walked to her bookshelf, running her fingers through the names as she searched. She shook her head. "Egypt, why does that sound so familiar?"

"Come across something?" Morgan asked, walking up to her.

"Well…," she hesitated, "I had a book from ancient Egypt that talked of a certain cult, but…," another pause. "But I can't seem to find it now." She frowned, it wasn't like her to misplace a book, especially as fascinating as this one had been. "The cult worshipped a god, or a demon if you will, named Tsirael, shaped like an owl."

"An owl?" Morgan frowned. "Like Clockwerk?"

"Possible, but I don't think … wait!" she squealed, picking up a book and practically leaping up and down like a cheerleader. "Here, I don't know why it was put here, but I've found it!" She turned the pages rapidly and found the chapter about the demon owl. She frowned and shook her head, "There's no where that it says there would be disks of some kind about him."

"What about the cult? Egypt isn't in power anymore, could it be possible there would be a prophesy from some other group?" Morgan suggested.

They tore through her large brown oak bookcase, researching for hours, just as they had when they were teenage girls, looking for information, or doing their homework. Sleep made the work that much more frustrating, but a cheerful Gwendolyn quickly brought in two cans of "rush" drink to help them.

"Still don't like coffee?" Morgan asked with a smile.

"I don't mind it," Gwendolyn said with a shake of her head, "but I better really be tired if I'm going to use it." She took a sip of the drink that was supposed to give you "wings", and paged through another book, squeaking as her finger pointed toward an entrée. "Tsirael, general of Hell, master of chaos and disaster, throned demon of the fourth level of hell," she read. "Apparently he could give Lucifer himself a run for ambition, he thought he would be able not only to overthrow God, but the devil too."

"Nice fellow," Morgan barked sarcastically.

"Seven thousand years after his fall from grace, it was said he would rise like a phoenix, and bring the world down in flames," she frowned, "appearing first in Germany, where his agent would eradicate God's chosen people, and then some sixty years later, where his followers would open the gates, and release him from bondage, using the blood of a chosen one, on the blue moon of the month of December, the birth of the savior."

"Sounds like this guy is a real peach," Morgan said.

"There's something about a key, releasing the general of his armies, or the major general, but there isn't much more I can read from this." Gwendolyn shivered. "This is demented."

"How much credence do you give it?" Morgan asked, finishing her drink, her friend shrugged.

"When I was little I would tell you there's no such thing as the supernatural, just as my college professor of a father had drilled into me, but I've seen to much just traveling with you to know to chuckle at things I can't explain and call them rubbish."

Morgan shivered, "I think I liked it better dealing with a deranged shark." _Those chips were the key, I lost them, and God knows what I might have unleashed because of it. Hopefully the scorpion found the other chip, and that way I'll know that whoever is pulling these strings, won't be able to bring down hell on the earth._

"I don't see how blaming yourself will do anyone any good, Morgan," Gwendolyn said, her bright white feathers shuffling around her body. She pushed her glasses up her nose and blinked. "How many years have we known each other? Yes, I could tell you were blaming yourself."

"I shouldn't have been fooling around," Morgan said.

"From what you told me, you weren't," Gwendolyn said.

"But I could have asked where the priest was," she insisted, "instead of giving into frustration. I could have left the chips there with the Aborigines, and…,"

"And they would have been wiped out because whoever wants those chips would have found out where they were no matter what. You did what you thought was right."

Morgan turned her thoughts to her brother Nathan, who had trained her in the family thieving ways up until he was killed in a gang shoot out. _Have I let **you** down too, brother? _"I have to find Sly, he might know what to do."

"Might as well buy two airplane tickets then," Gwendolyn sighed.

"I thought you didn't want to get involved," Morgan said with a smile.

"With thievery, no," the crane said. "But I don't happen to have a problem with stopping some nut job trying to destroy the world." She smiled, and ran a feathered hand over her board, "Besides, I'd love to see some of the world's best surfing spots."

"You always said Australia has the best," the numbat giggled.

"Just because its true, that doesn't mean we shouldn't humor our less lucky fellow nations, now does it?"

They laughed through the rest of the day, and made their plans, hoping they could get Sly's attention by heading for Rome, again one of Gwendolyn's idea, she didn't want a fight in her home, and she also had wanted to try some of the Italian food, straight from Italy. She called the college, told them she was taking a Christmas break early, which since she was one of the best professors they had she could do, and off they went.



"Oh come on, give us a break!" Bentley cried as soon as they walked off the airplane. His eyes were focused on two woman, boarding another plane, heading toward Europe. Besides him a very tired, yet grinning Sly shook his head.

_Yep, we're yo-yos. That's all there is too it. _

_**Okay the 26th chapter is DONE! I hope everyone liked it! I'm typing this as I am in bed at 11:13 at night, so if it seems a tiny bit odd, it may be because I'm a little bit rummy. Haven't been sleeping well these last two to three weeks. Oh well, next time I submit, it will be chapters 27-32 (I hope), and then the grand finale, chapters 33-40! Until then, keep on reading!**_


	27. Attacks, Escapes and Pie

_**Ziggy's Corner: Chapter 27! This should be a long chapter. I do want to take the time to tell you that I recently created a group to help people to stop getting flamed, either from bullies, ever zealous fanatics, or other kinds of people. It is called the Knights of Fanfiction. If you'd like to help, join up, etc., click on my name, go to the Knight forum, and go to the sign up post. Haven't gotten any reviews from last time except from Heidi, whose already joined. Hope that I get some for these. Okay let's have some fun!**_

Rome, the eternal city. Sly'd been here on many different "missions", and loved to take time to sight see. This wasn't one of those times. Nyoko was here, somewhere. Sly needed those chips, and thanks to a surprise call from Morgan Skye, he'd learned that the ninja had taken one… possibly.

"Okay, look I don't think we have a lot of time," Sly told his friends. "Nyoko is bound to discover we're here, and if so, she'll either fly, or confront us, so we've got to find her, before she has the time to act."

Bentley hug up the phone and sighed, "Well I guess I'm a bachelor again." His friends looked at him. "I can't blame her, after dating like we did, and then the mission began, we didn't spend a lot of time together… plus she has a new job in London, and won't be stateside for at least three years." He fought tears. He hadn't had a relationship with Rose Marie for a long time, but now that it was over, it stung hard.

"Bentley, I'm sorry," Sly managed to say. He had stood there with his mouth open for a long time, it seemed like they had been the perfect couple. It broke his heart that his friend was in so much pain, as he could see it had with Murray, as no doubt it would do with Carmelita. "Look, if you want to go to her, try and fix things…,"

Bentley shook his head. "I don't think it'd do any good," the turtle said, kicking the ground. "Besides, we've got to get those chips, even if it's just one! No telling what evil could be unleashed if we don't. You heard Fr. Mac Cullum, Sly." He turned to his computer, and began typing furiously. Soon he had tracked the scorpion to a certain building in the city, and printed out the map.

"She's there," the turtle said. "I'm picking up some kind of weird electric system in this area, it was similar to one I found in Barstow, and now that we knew she was there, it's a good bet, that this is her."

"Or a tourist from Italy, that was visiting Barstow," Sly said dryly. They looked at him.

"That is a good point, Sly, but I have a strong hunch that this is indeed Nyoko," Bentley said.

"So we go there, knock the lies out of her, and take the chip, right?" Murray said, cracking his knuckles. He normally was opposed to hitting girls, but after what the Contessa had done to him, his ideas seemed to change.

"Well I don't think we have to worry about that buddy," Sly said with a chuckle, thankful for a change in pace from the bad news they had just received a little bit ago. "She doesn't work for Charlie anymore, she might be willing to work with us."

Bentley had said he didn't think as much, after all, if that were the case, why had she stayed hidden? Why had she attacked Morgan, not that he had much love for either woman. Sly considered that and had nodded, they would take enough caution this time around. She was a formidable opponent, and actually unpredictable.

The three of them slipped into the van, and drove off, silently passing past the police, Sly thankful that they had disguised the van, so no one would get too suspicious. It moved from street to street, passing houses both old and new, ancient and super conglomerate. It was indeed the eternal city.

As the van approached the building that the ninja was supposed to be, an explosion rocked the skyline, shaking everything around them. The master thief team's eyes went wide, each staring the next as more and more explosions could be seen, felt, and heard. "What is going on?" Sly cried.

"A terrorist attack?" Murray asked, checking the sky for any planes that had been taken over by lunatics, and were now dropping down to the ground, seeking victims to take to hell in the name of Allah or by some other god.

Bentley quickly tapped his computer terminal, scanning anything that might be helpful. Already there were news crews headed in their direction, already the net was abuzz with speculation about what was going on. "There's too many guess and not enough facts," the turtle croaked. "We really shouldn't stay here, we're well known by the police just about everywhere, we might be accused of this."

"But Nyoko is right above our heads," Murray said. "If we could just get to her…,"

"It might result in a fight, or worse," Bentley said, "No I think we'd better just pull up camp and wait for another… sweet Jesus!" he cried, as the building in front of them went up in flames.

"That rules out planes," Sly said with a nod. He turned to the back of the van, and opened the door.

"What in the world are you doing now? We gotta get out of here!" his best friend snapped.

"According to your sensors, Nyoko is still around here, in fact she was just in that building. If we can help in anyway, we should."

"Would you use common sense?" Bentley howled, jutting a finger out toward the building. What had been a fourteen, possibly fifteen story apartment building they had arrived at, was now a demented looking Tower of Pisa. Nine of the maximum floors had already fallen, bodies were lining the streets, people were pressed against red gray flaming rock, with glass slicing through their skin. The air smelled of despair, and smoke, puffs of gray and black clouds rose into the sky to form grim dark angelic faces of death that seemed to either frown or grin at their dark work. "You want to go out into that?!" Bentley narrowed his eyes, clenching a fist. He rarely got angry at his "brothers" but when he did, it was always serious.

"We need to try…," Sly said. "Look, even if Nyoko isn't among the injured, we still ought to try and help these other people."

"Did you stop to think that it might have been Nyoko who was responsible for any of this?" Bentley screamed.

"Or it could have been that Cult, the priest told us about," Sly said, raising his own voice. "Look, this won't be but for a second, I have to do this…," he turned and opened the door, and fell right into the ninja's embrace, her lips again pressed against his.

"Thanks for the concern, Cooper-San, but as you can see, I'm fine," she said as Sly pushed her away.

He glared at her, his eyes narrowing. "You did not do this, am I right?" he said, his tone dark and serious. It was as if he was daring her to say she had, so he could take out so much rage down on her.

"I'm a bad girl, I admit it," she giggled, and then frowned. "But no, I did not do this! I would do no such action as this desperate." Sirens were growing closer. She turned her head and then practically pushed herself into the van, followed by some kind of robotic, spider dog thing. "Good boy Cooyoko," she giggled as it licked her. "Now stay, and you…," she said pointing to Murray, "drive."

"Wait a moment, who said we were going to take you with us?" Sly growled.

"Would you rather we all be taken in by the authorities?" she asked. "I can tell you about the chip," she cooed.

Sly listened to the sirens just around the corner, and frowned, time was running out. He didn't trust this woman, and the urge to help the people was just as strong. Still he was a wanted criminal, and people looking for a scapegoat would not hesitate to "put two and two together" and blame the Cooper Gang. "Drive Murray."

"You sure?" The hippo looked between the raccoon and the scorpion and back again.

"Drive," Sly snapped quickly. He reached for a phone, dialed in an emergency number, and quickly gave the description of the scene to the operator, telling them where to find some of the people who had a chance of being rescued, who might have been passed over. "We're trailing an individual who might be responsible for this," he lied, hating himself… but he had to give some reason why they were not on the scene. "I think it might be an owl, it's too insane to really tell from here." When pressed for more information, or to stay on the line, Sly made another excuse that they were breaking up, and quickly severed the connection.

Turning to the grinning scorpion who was lying on the floor of the van, as if she were a fashion model, very seductively, he narrowed his eyes again. "Alright, now about that chip."

"Such a charmer," the scorpion cooed.

SLY COOPER

Morgan and Gwendolyn stepped of the plane, and made their way to the Aquarium. It didn't have much in the way of their mission, but this was the crane's first actual visit to the United States in quite some time. She'd been here for business once, on a two day trip, and had not gotten to site see like she had wanted, and the first time she was only a child of three, visiting Disney World with her parents.

_What kind of demented person takes such a young child to such an awe inspiring place? _She thought as they grew closer to the Aquarium of the Pacific. _Oh, you've been to Disney World? Cool what was it like? Gee, it was a giant blur, with people talking in words I really couldn't understand yet, and some big freak with giant mouse ears, that lifted me up and down over and over again. And I only remember that part because it had scared me to death, and I still have nightmares about it!_

They reached the aquarium, and the crane had to practically with strain herself from bounding out of her seat. Such sites to see, if she ever got married, places like this, and the museum in New York would more than likely be her tourist treats for the kids. "We're only here for about two hours," Morgan informed her. "Then we have to meet our contact at the Queen Mary."

Again an odd grin spread across Gwendolyn's face. The Queen Mary, one of the largest ships in history, even lager than the Titanic! Carrier of hundreds of troops during World War II. Her feather's itched and she fought the urge to jump up and down. All that history, all of this biology, it was enough to make her feel like she was a child again. Her friend looked over at her and laughed with a shake of her head.

"Remind me to pack some tranquilizer darts the next time I bring you anywhere like this," she chuckled. "Can't have you slobbering all over the curator or whatnot, and asking him for dates!"

"I don't do anything of the sort," Gwendolyn growled, regaining her composure. "Besides, I'm hear for business anyway," _yeah … right, _"I even have my notepad to use for the study of these fascinating animals inside here." She showed her friend the briefcase, loaded with not just one notepad, but dozens of them.

"It's a good thing we're not going to the beach too, you'd probably knock down everyone with a observation kit that actually contained your surfboard," Morgan laughed, poking Gwendolyn in the ribs.

The crane raised her long neck toward the ocean and narrowed her eyes at the waves, then clicked her tongue in disgust. "Maybe if we had gone to Hawaii, or one of the Central California beaches, but those little puppies aren't even worth me getting my board out of his case."

"His case?" Morgan asked as she paid for her ticket, and stepped aside to let Gwen pay for her's.

"You have your quirks, and I have mine!" The crane said with a smirk. She looked at her friend, and frowned, as she caught her staring in a direction, motionless with disbelief. "You alright?" she asked. She turned her head and caught site of pink fur and something signing slipping past a corridor. "What is it?"

"Your notes may have to wait," Morgan said, pressing further toward the corridor, and slipping out one of her blades. "I thought I just saw Constable Neyla go down this way."

"I thought I heard in the news that she was the leader of a secret gang of some sort, and was gunned down by Interpol," Gwen said, trying to see if there was any movement. The further away they were getting from the people, the creepier it felt, as if they were in a horror movie of some kind. She kept waiting for the director to yell cut, but the order never came.

"If by Interpol, you mean Carmelita Fox, then yes…," Morgan said, pushing further away from the protection of the crowd, or perhaps it was just the opposite, pushing away from the crowd so to protect them, in case a fight broke out. "With the help of Sly Cooper."

"Then how can she be alive?" Gwen asked, dropping her bags.

"Oh dear," came a dead like voice, almost as if someone were speaking through a voice enhancer machine of some kind. It was feminine, and made an icy shiver run up both friends' backs. "Have ye no faith other than science?" Neyla, or something that appeared to **be** Neyla stepped out of the darkness.

Most of her fur around her upper left side body was gone, just a few strands here and there, replaced by mechanical armor. The same was true of her lower right body. Some kind of mechanical eye piece jutted from one of her sockets, burning red. "All though I must say, science also had a hand in my rebirth." She looked at her body and sighed. "Not much to look at is there? I suppose I'll never get a date to the prom now, oh dear my, whatever will I do?"

"As if Sly would ever ask you," Morgan growled, twirling her blades in her fingers instinctively. Neyla scowled at her.

"He did once," she spat. "Unfortunately we had ways of parting before we could go out on the town." Her face pulled up in a hellish form, her eye glowing redder than ever before. "And I hate Sly Cooper!" she hissed. She pulled out a shiny silver cylinder from behind her back, and flipped a switch. A whip as red as her eye poured out of the machine as it hummed. "You really don't want to fight me, dearies."

Gwendolyn had pulled back into a defensive position, and narrowed her eyes, waiting for the first strike. The Cyborg turned to look at her and began to stalk. "You especially do not want to fight me hand to hand. You're not very smart, are you?"

"You'd be surprised," Gwen scowled.

"Well I don't want to fight," the tigress said with a smile.

"Then why come here?" Morgan asked. Neyla smiled.

"To give you a fair warning dear, you don't know with whom you're dealing with. That contact on the Queen Mary? He's dead now," she looked down at her whip and ran a hand on the cylinder. "If its any consolation, I had the grandest of time, and I think in the end, he might have as well."

"And we should believe you, because?" Gwen asked. The Cyborg looked at her, and reached into a bag in the floor, pulling the head of a pig and tossing it at them.

"He had the same look that you two are sharing right now when I walked through he bedroom door," Neyla teased. "Now be good, _smart_ little girls, and go back home. You can't win."

Morgan howled in rage and leapt at the tigress, who blocked her attack with her right forearm, and spun her toward a wall. She rose her whip in the air, and brought it down, but hissed in shock as Gwendolyn leapt out of no where, and swung her own punch, at the weapon. A single strike shattered the metal, and the light red thread of the whip flashed into nonexistence.

Full enraged herself, Neyla turned and kicked the crane in her stomach and sent an uppercut to her jaw. Gwen flew across the room, dropping to the ground, wiping blood from her mouth, and watching as Neyla pounced toward her, jutting backwards as Morgan grabbed her by the ends of her blades and yanked backward, sending the monster into the darkness. There was a loud thump and clink as metal and skin hit the floor, and then the scamper of feet. "Last warning," Neyla's echoing voice called. "Go home."

Morgan raced after her, but the villain had made good her escape. Thinking quickly the numbat returned to her friend, and helped her up. "You want to go home?" she asked with a grim smile.

"You kidding me, it's just getting interesting," Gwen said, shaking the cobwebs from her head. "Besides I need to stay for the exercise, I seem to have gotten rusty."

SLY COOPER

_You hear me Christian?_

_Yeah, I can hear you, brother!_

The twins looked at each other and then at the goons in front of them, who were busy watching television. The thugs were muscle bound, with tiny heads, and possibly tinier brains. Neither boy could imagine their luck at this change of guards. "Excuse me, I have to go pee!" Christian asked.

"And I'm hungry," the other boy said.

"Will you two please stop, Gracia begged. "You're going to get us hurt, and besides, you know what dad says about talking to people like that!"

"I really gotta go!" Christian cried, jumping up and down, holding his pants.

"And I really gotta get something to eat!" Gabriel shouted.

One of the guards grumbled and rose to his feet, stomping toward the gate. "Fine, 'er eat this!" he howled, pushing a candy bar at the boys.

"They're not supposed to eat stuff like that," Gracia shouted, but pushed away as her brothers and the guard glared at her in unison.

"Take a leak in that pot over there," the guard added.

"I can't go in public," Christian cried.

The guard groaned and unlatched the bars, releasing the young boy, who dashed toward the bathroom, and locked it. "Look after him will you?"

"Why, there ain't no windows or anything in there, and…," His eyes grew wide, "What the fuck is that stench!" he cried, looking at the bathroom. "And what the hell's he doing in there, blowing up or something?"

"Brat must have put together a stink bomb or something," the first guard howled, ignoring an increasingly hyper Gabriel.

_You ready brother?_

_Yeah,yeahI'mreadyreadyreadyreadyready!_

_You really gotta cut back on the sugar._

_Ifthat'snotthekettlecallingthepotblack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

The guard opened the door, and went to drag out Christian, and nearly gagged at the slime rolling down on the walls. Christian finished washing his hands, and rushed by him, grabbing his keys and unlocking the door. Gabriel rushed by and slammed into the second guard, not once but twice, okay three times, the third on his princely jewels.

The other guard attempted to stop them from escaping, but the fumes from the bathroom was so bad he simply passed out. The twins smirked at each other and took their sister's hands, leading her to a window. "Out this way," they said in unison.

"Okay you two are seriously freaking me out, that's like a four story drop," the girl replied, staring way down to the bottom of the building. "There are guards down there too, how do you expect us to get away?"

_So little faith has she, huh?_

_Sheneedstogetagrip!_

_And you need to take a breathe, even in your mind, dude. Shall we show her what we have in store, Gab?_

Gabriel smirked. _Let's. _

The two boys took their sister's hands, and leapt out of the window, Christian covering his sister's mouth. With a leap and a bound, the three quickly found them out of the room, out of the compound, and into freedom, dashing toward freedom. "And you two did this how?"

The boys looked at each other and smiled.

SLY COOPER

Carmen lay in her nice, soft bed, watching soap operas, and sipping herbal tea. She _hated_ soap operas and herbal tea, but that was all that seemed to be available. Feeling dark green yellow ooze run down her nose yet again, her arm reached for a tissue, and quickly knocked the box off the table by her bed. "Crap," she snarled.

Somewhere in the house Roberto was making her some soup, although he was taking his time about it. She could hear Vittoria prancing around the house too, singing some children's song, and playing with her dolls. Carmen prayed to be healthy, to join with her daughter's fun, but she likewise knew that if she had been healthy, she would have been packing her bags to attend that conference, as would her husband. And Vittoria would be left with Nana Maria.

Just as she thought about going to rise from her bed, her charming husband entered, with their little angel at his heels, bringing the queen of the house her soup. He gazed at her from behind the bed tray, and stood motionless, as if he had read her mind. With a playful smirk he narrowed his eyes. "You do, and I'll tie you down on that bed."

"That's abuse you know," Carmen said, narrowing her own eyes with her own playful smirk. She looked at her daughter and smiled brighter. "And what are you doing here, little lady? Has the mean dictator of flu-town actually decided to grow lax in his laws?"

The three year old giggled, twirling her shoulder length black hair and hid behind her father's legs. "Sssssshhhhhh!"

Roberto, pretending he hadn't heard her, inched toward the bed, and set down the tray by the bed, Vittoria inching ever behind daddy. "You know I think my leg's gone numb, I can't seem to move it much!" he told Carmen, trying not to smile. His warm chocolate hair and matching eyes shone in the light, his eyes twinkling playfully. "I might have to go to the doctor too, it really feels numb!" He reached behind him and began to rub it, tickling his little angel, pretending to be oblivious to it."

"No," Vittoria giggled, pulling away. Her face was round, youthful. Freckles lined her cheeks and nose, a few on her ears too.

"I guess we have a giggle fairy in the house too," he sighed. "And here I just sprayed for those."

"I guess you'll just have to find a better spray," Carmen said with a wide grin, resting her chin on the back of her hand as she watched. Vittoria giggled again and spun into their bathroom, hiding from her father, a bit successfully. Carmen giggled and motioned with a finger to show her husband where she had gone.

"I think a certain little angel best get away from the bathroom, or she'll get as sick as her mommy," Roberto said, not turning around. The girl gasped and rushed out, putting her hands her hips.

"Mommy," she chastised. Her lower lips pouted and she looked down at her tiny feet. Her disappointment seconds ago diminished. "Gots a new song!"

Carmen rose her eyebrows. "Really? Le me hear."

Vittoria squealed with delight, and posed just so. The she broke out with a "moving" rendition of "Doncha wish your girlfriend was hot like me". Carmen's jaw dropped and she stared daggers at her husband, who seemed to lose a good deal of color.

"Don't look at me," he gasped.

"Were you watching her when she was watching television?" he shrugged sheepishly. Carmen turned to her daughter, rolling her eyes. "Sweetie that's great, but I really don't think you want to sing that song, it's not appropriate at you age, okay?"

Vittoria lowered her head, and frowned. "Kay!" Then Perky Vittoria peeped back up, "Pie!" she squealed, and dashed off to the kitchen.

"Pie?!" Carmen looked at her husband. "Just want have you been letting her do while I've been sick?"

"I didn't give her any…," his eyes grew wide. "V… wait a moment," he hollered and rushed into the kitchen, where the girl squealed, and her father warned her of a large bag of flour. Seconds passed, and then the sounds of crashing pots and pans, along with a painful yelp forced Carmen from her confines and hurrying into the kitchen as quick as her condition would let her go.

Flour was everywhere, everything pasted in a fine, white substance, as if Picaso had been given the green light to be the new Jack Frost and had brought winter into Carmen's kitchen. In front of her, a very happy Vittoria was holding up a small pie, which Carmen would later learn that daddy had helped her make to make Carmen feel better.

"Pie, mommy!" the grinning girl said, holding it up. Then she frowned. "But daddy made a biiiiiiigggggggg mess!" She jutted her finger at her father, laying in a sack of flour, and jus grumbling. Vittoria put a small hand on her hip and clicked her tongue like her mother. "What's we gonna do with dat man?"

Despite feeling like vomiting, she held it down, and howled with laughter at her daughter, followed by embarrassed chuckles from her husband. If laughter was the best medicine, Carmen knew she'd get better in no time staying home.

**_Okay, it's done! I hope you liked it, and have fallen in love with little Vittoria! I'm not sure, could I have upped her cute factor, or was she just the right shade of too cuteness? Well onto the next chappie!_**




	28. Death and Intrigue

_**Ziggy's Corner: Okay chapter 28. The Intrigue starts heating up. This is going to be a short chapter **_

Oscar Lorenzo Fox took his chair, looking at a large group of his friends and co workers. At seventy two, he should have been retired, but his determination to justice would not allow it. He was balder than a bald eagle, and just as tough as a stone wall. His eyes were golden brown, and he looked intently forward, at the new commissioner of Interpol. "He looks so familiar, I can't figure out how though," the old man said.

"I can't figure out why the meeting either," a friend said, sitting next to him. "This whole thing stinks really bad."

"Thank you for coming," Victor Arcan said, his voice strong and full of power, contained in a very youthful body. He smiled and ruffled some papers. "This meeting is to allow you all to meet your new commander, to voice your opinions, questions, whatever you want." He leaned against his desk. "That being said, it's going to be a new era, a new time to live. Law enforcement around the world is about to be revolutionized." His voice was growing, it was high, tense, full of what a lot of people would be called fanatic tone.

"The guy is a little off his rocker I think," his friend said, whispering in his ear.

"He's youthful, he'll learn that this is serious business," Oscar said.

"That being said, I wanted to know if any of you had any questions?" The question and answer forum lasted for a good two to three hours.

"What is your take on the resent rise of thieves?" Oscar asked. His commissioner looked at him square in the eyes and crossed his arms.

"They're definitely not to cause of complete and utter evil on our planet, but as we aren't here for war criminals, I'd say that international thievery should take a very large piece of the pie on our charts." He grinned. "Question answered," before Oscar could respond, "good." His eyes narrowed. "You have more in your family that are part of Interpol, Mr. Fox, where are they?"

"Dealing with family business," Oscar said.

"It would be best if it was extreme business, to miss this," Victor growled.

"Be it sure, that it is."

They stared at each other and turned away, the session lasted another two or three hours, and then it ended. Oscar rose from his feet, missing his son, his grandchildren, his precious Emily. Truth be told, he saw her just a few minutes after walking out of the main room, as both were Interpol agents. She smiled at him and wrapped her hands around his neck. "You look beautiful this night."

"I look beautiful every night," she teased. They kissed and held each other. "What do you think of this new commissioner?"

"I don't know," Oscar sighed. "I'm just tired of all this politics. It would be nice if everything would just slow down."

"It's called retirement," Emily teased. Her eyes were gray blue, and softer than a blanket. Her voice was childlike, and innocent.

Oscar opened his mouth, ready to say something else, when he frowned, there was something not right. "Emily, run." He gripped her arm, and pulled her to the exit of the building, his ears twitching as they dashed for safety. In a perfect world they would have made it, in a game story they would have made it, in a story based on a game, they would have made it. But this was real life. Truth was they got out of the building, but just seconds before flames and the ground rocked all over the place. The cries of injured and shocked surrounded them, and they looked at one another before Emily slowly passed into darkness. Oscar crawled slowly over to his wife, remembering the first time he had seen her.

They'd both been in the police academy. He was sitting at the cafeteria, eating with his buddy, Luke, when this thin beauty walked into the room. His eyes grew, his blushed and he had looked away, feeling her eyes focusing on him. Luke laughed.

"Seems like someone has an interest," he joked. "Come on, man, get a grip and go and talk to her."

He could not bring himself to do it, not for a good number of weeks. In the end it was Emily who approached him. "Look, I know this is forward, but would you like to go for tea?"

He had nearly choked on his gum. His mind told him to make an excuse, for fear that she'd hate him in the long run, but he blurted out that he would. He was happy he had. Four years ago, he married her, and they'd be happy, bringing justice to criminals for a good number of years.

Now he took her hands into his and kissed her fingers. "Emily, beloved, I … love… you."

_**SLY COOPER**_

How he had found his children, dashing through the woods, he'd never know. Issac ushered the kids in, called his son to let him know what had happened, and then dropped his bag in horror. "What did you say?"

"Its all over the news, dad," Ivan said, his voice laced with grief. "Someone blew up the Interpol headquarters during the staff meeting. Grandpa, grandmother, they're gone. They were listed among those who died."

Issac felt his blood pressure fall. "No," he whispered.

"Uncle Alberto was seriously injured, but he might survive, but Jamie has been killed too," he continued, weeping for the sake of his cousin-in-law. Her poor husband, and children, neither Nalda nor Machiel had reached ten years yet.

"Do they know what happened?" Issac asked, his knees buckling.

"It was a terrorist act," Ivan said.

_**SLY COOPER**_

"Your cane Sly," Bentley gasped. "It was found in the rubble in the attack."

"But that's not possibly," Murray said. "Sly's cane is right there in his hands." He turned and pointed at his brother in arms.

Sly's reaction to the television images was one of immense pain and sorrow. They'd already learned that at least three, perhaps five members of Carmelita's family had been killed. Even Nyoko seemed sorrowful.

"Someone is setting you up, Cooper-san," she whispered.

"Unless you know who, I think we've already figured that part out," Sly said, an edge to his voice. She looked hurt, and turned away.

"Things are getting darker," Sly said. "We've got to solve this puzzle before anyone else get's hurt."

_**I told you things were going to get more intense, as well as a short chapter, the next one is basically Victor Arcan's point of view from the hospital as he decides what has happened, and how to deal with this. Yep, he survived, just barely. And he's pissed. **_


	29. Midnight Contemplations

_**Ziggy's Corner: Only one person in this chapter, but this is a longer chapter, around six pages. **_

Victor Arcan lay in his bed at the hospital, his foot twitching. How he had survived, he did not know, but he knew it meant he had to redefine his mission. He had thought about going soft on certain crimes, seeing as how a certain thief was dating a certain high ranking official, who had not even shown enough curtsey to say she was not coming to her new commander's first public speech.

"Commander, let me examine that piece of evidence again," he snapped. The commander, who had been selected as his guard, looked at him and back at his book, hesitant. "Is there a problem commander?"

"Sir, with a good reasoning," the man, a giraffe began.

"I don't give a damn if you think I've looked at it too many times," Victor barked. "We were attacked, commander … attacked!" His eyes narrowed. "In our own building of all places. I think I've earned the right to be angry." He snapped his the staff out of the other man's hands and studied it, frowning. "Cooper."

"It doesn't fit his M.O. sir," the commander said. His superior looked up at him and glared, causing the older man to take a few steps back. "He's a thief, not an assassin," he said.

"This would have said opposite," he growled. He stared at the brown staff, and wrapped his brown fingers tightly around it, as if he were going to strangle Sly's neck. "I want every agent on the planet to find that thief and bring him to justice," he growled.

"Sir?" the commander asked.

"I do not care about if we already have an agent after him, she's dating him for Christ's sake," he howled. "As far as I am concerned, she's just as guilty."

"Sir!" the giraffe growled. "They've lost so many of their own people, their own family! That statement is not appropriate," he growled.

He had a point. Victor knew that his anger was boiling up from the shock of the attack, that he was on the verge of a witch hunt. Still he had very little tack. He needed to know who was in charge. "Commander, I shall take that into consideration, but for right now, you are to remember your place." He sat up and grimaced in agony as the pain running through his body. "I want you to leave… I'll beep you if I need any aid." There was no disputing what he had ordered. "I mean now," he said politely, but firmly.

The commander studied his superior, then turned and left the room, locking the door. Victory looked at the cane and leaned back into his bed. His thoughts turned back to his family, more accurately his father. His dad always was considered the black sheep of their family. His grandfather paid him very little attention, focusing his attention on the younger brother, and when push came to shove, his father walked out from the ingrates when he was twenty three.

Everything Victor Arcan knew about law enforcement, he knew from his father. He could not remember his mother very well, because she had died, drowned in a lake on his fourth birthday. His father went from woman to woman after that, romancing many trying to find the perfect woman to be his son's new mother. Victor never really accepted any of them. He had rather look up to his police officer father, to be an example to the public that he could be the best man he could be, to protect the public.

None of his rise to power had been easy, there had been many horrible words that he was illegitimate, that he had cheated on his tests to rise to where he had been. For years he had been alone none of his partners liked him very much. But he had persevered. And in the end, here he was, upon the death of the last commissioner of Interpol, being elected the new commander of the world's police organization. And what had happened? A lunatic had caused the deaths of many of his men and women. What a way to start a legacy.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the ringing of his intercom, and his hand wiped out to smash it. "What is it now?" he barked.

"Sir, there's something I think you should see in the papers," the commander said.

All of the sudden, the room seemed a lot smaller, though it was nearly the size of a private suite. The colors of white and light gray seemed suffocating. "I said I wanted to be alone," he growled.

"This is important sir," the commander said.

"And I should care why?"

"Commissioner Arcan, if you would please just let me in here," the commander said, his voice weakening.

"Commander, I am warning you," the commissioner snapped.

"Sir this is important!" his officer said, his voice rising at a high pitch.

With a sigh, Victor pushed a button, and the commander marched in, dropped the paper work onto his lap, saluted, and turned to leave. "Just a moment, commander," Victor said.

"I really do not see why sir," the giraffe said. "It is obvious you are not that interested in my opinions."

"That's not true, its just this is all new to me, and I'm still a little shell shocked, what with the attack and all." He sighed. "I apologize for my attitude, it's just." He sighed again and looked down at the papers. Sly Cooper was on the cover of every single major world paper, above his head, the words, terrorist. It did not dawn on him about what was going on, until he read the reports were about an attack in Italy. "He's not that evil, I had no idea about this," he said in a low whisper.

"It would seem that the thief for whatever reason has turned terrorist," the giraffe said with a nod. A long finger tapped down on to a picture. "It appears that he might be over Carmelita Fox too," he said, towards the picture of Sly aiding a Scorpion woman hurrying into his van."

"Nyoko," Victor said with distain. "We've been after her for quite some time, used to work for Charlie the Great." His eyes rose, "I would not put it above her to influence this deluded youth." He sighed again, truth was they weren't that far off in age difference, just three years separated them. "As I said, put out an arrest for Cooper and his whole gang, his associates, anyone who might know anything."

"We have to be careful not to overstep our bounds too far," the commander said. "The U.N. would not like it if we start bursting in doors in search of him."

"You leave the U.N. to me. I don't think they'll be to big a challenge for us, with public opinion in our favor after this attack. I know there were many people who've heard about Sly, looking up to him like some kind of twisted Robin Hood, but to be honest, this should break down his popularity level too. I'm sure that if she's not too drawn to him, Ms. Fox would be happy to drag his sorry butt down into our hands." He grimaced.

"That you sir, I'll be sure to pass the word along." The giraffe saluted turned and walked out.

Victor didn't get much sleep after he left, the phone rang and he picked it up. "Hello there, my dear," he said with a genuine smile.

"I was so worried when I heard about the attack, I was afraid that you were killed."

"I'm made of tougher stuff than some lonely, crazed thief can take down," Victor chuckled, grimacing from the pain. "The thought of losing you carried me on to live."

"Victor, about Sly…," the woman on the other line said.

"Do not worry so much," Victor said with a smile. "He'll be brought down and arrested, and spend the rest of his life behind bars, if I have a say about it."

"Or I do," Olivia snarled on the other end of the phone. "He killed my family, he tried to kill my new boyfriend, he's scum."

"My dear, you need to calm down and just allow yourself to focus on that new acting career I helped you with," Victor intoned. "I don't want you around that maniac."

"But it's okay for my little sister to be?" she nearly shouted.

"Olivia, have faith, you're sister should come around. She's a smart girl. She's just a little too close to this case, perhaps I should transfer her to a desk job," Victor said with a smile. "Would that make my little girl happier?"

"He's going around bombing police buildings, no it would not make me happier," she growled. "I don't care if she's not interested in my thoughts, she's still my sister, and I want what's best for her."

"So what do you want?" Victor asked, fatigue slowly etching along his body.

"I want her off the force, period. She has nothing to do with any of this, she shouldn't be involved."

"You want me to fire her … based on what? It would look aweful suspicious if I were just to let her go for no reason," his mind raced. "Although if I was to think she would refuse to stay away from him," he scratched his chin. "Perhaps that would work out to everyone's best advantage."

"Perhaps," Olivia said. "Look I just don't want to see anyone, but that damn raccoon to get hurt."

"Let's not get too vindictive my dear," the commissioner said.

"Did you somehow manage to miss the fact, that that bastard killed some of my family?" she shrieked. "I think I have the right to be vindictive."

"I thought you didn't care much for your family," he said, worry building in him, hearing the strength of her hate.

She hissed, cursed in Spanish, and then sighed. "Look, I want what's best for them even if they don't want what's best. If they want to fight me, then screw them, but I want to give them this one last chance."

"I understand, my dear," the commissioner said in warm sincerity. "Let's just not over do anything right now. We're still not sure how your father will take to the news that his daughter is dating his boss."

"He doesn't like it, he can go suck it," she snapped. "I'm a big girl now, if I want to date the commissioner of Interpol, will. If I want to be an actress, my way, I will."

Victor smiled while listening to the Latina spitfire. They had met one evening shortly before Charlie the Great had put into actions his devious plans, and had connected. She was a black sheep, just like his father, no one in her family understood her need for freedom, just as no one understood his father's desires to better his family. It had been an easy match, she hadn't tried to force herself on him, like so many of those women who his father wanted him to accept had.

"You should get some sleep now, my dear, we'll talk again in the morning." They said they're good byes and Victor hung up the phone, fatigue no longer overpowering him. He stretched out his fingers, and scanned the room for anything of interest, knocking the papers of his lap. There would be work to be done, but not today.

Grabbing his remote by a table, he flicked on the television, and skimmed over the television channels, hoping to find some news programs. Television was something of a bane to him, the only real good that came from it was the news, interests of other people and countries. Those channels that ran the news at this hour were all talking about the recent attacks in Rome and at the Interpol office. Things he already knew, but at least he could gauge the reactions of the commentators. And it was good news, as far as he was concerned. There was nothing in most of the men and women's words except for distain of Cooper, which would make it easier for him to stretch his authority to get the thief… if it came to that.

Two hours passed, and boredom sunk in deep, with a growl of irritation only a six year old had at not getting the latest toy, he snapped the television off, and lay against his pillows. Sleep came in sessions, and before he knew it, the sun had disappeared from the window frame, crickets were chirping near his window, and he sighed. Four hours of sleep, that was all he had gotten, and it was one hour more than he normally needed. The clock said it was ten thirty in the evening, and he was wide awake, full of hunger and the need for a shower. With a press of his button, a nurse came in, and he informed her of his requests, leaving no stone unturned that he would not be denied.

After being bathed by the woman, something he found degrading, but understood as temporarily necessary, and had eaten, his adrenaline was rushing through his body, though it was now a little past eleven. He turned on television, and scowled at no new developments, and turned it off, flinging the remote into the darkness, listening to it clink against the side of his metal bars, that were used to make sure he did not slip from his bed. He pressed the button again, and inquired if there was anything in the hospital stores that he'd find interesting, ignoring the fact that it was the middle of the night. She pleaded with him to go back to bed, to sleep and get stronger, but he tossed that suggestion aside as if it was a bag of dirty laundry. He had his sleep for the night, if he were to get tired, of course he'd sleep, but he was too far awake to care.

She brought him a cup of warm milk, with three lumps of sugar in it, and just a dash of lemon juice, which he downed, and then gave him a book. Victor scanned the cover, and flipped through the pages, thankful for being in a one bed room, so he would not have had to worry about keeping his roommate awake all night. He turned the pages, one by one, and within the next hour, finished the over seven hundred volume. After that he slept for another three hours, and woke up to watch some god awful late night talk show. When it became too unbearable for him, he turned it off yet again, and asked for a computer, which he quickly skipped through the web, finding anything of interest, memorizing it, and then played a computer program, until it was close to six o'clock. Victor shut down the machine, and fell asleep for another two in a half hours, dozing really before he was completely awake around nine. He devoured another meal, allowed himself to be washed again, and then sat back in bed.

The commander slowly slipped through the doors and saluted him. "Good morning sir," the giraffe said.

"Not really, there isn't much to do here," the commissioner grumbled. His eyes turned towards his subordinates hands, and he spotted papers. "I suppose I need to go over those?"

"Yes sir, just the daily reports and what not," the commander said, handing them over. Victor flipped through them, studied what he needed to know, and signed where he needed to sign, and handed them over to the giraffe. It had taken four hours, but he was already done with most of his work for the day, which disgusted him. Had the attack not happened, had he not been hurt, he would have strolled through the offices of the headquarters, making sure everything was running smoothly. He was itchy and could not wait to get out of this damn bed.

"They say you should be up and around by next month," the commander said.

"That's not nearly good enough to suite me," Victor grumbled. "There's too much to be done, just to lay around all day." He scoffed at the giraffe's attempt to cheer him up, and waved aside any banter about gossip. "I'm afraid to say I'm a little tired, commander, would you mind waiting outside for a few hours?"

The giraffe saluted, rose to his feet, and left his commander in chief to his sleep. Victor dosed a couple of hours, and again shifted in his bed as the telephone rang. He picked it up, and listened closely. Once the other person was finished speaking, he gasped.

"How very interesting, and how did you come about this bit of information?" He waited for an answer, and only got a raspy laugh.

"Let's just say I have my sources," the voice said. "I believe you can use this information?"

"Yes… yes, it will be most, helpful." Victor smiled. "I am glad I decided to keep in touch with you for so long, there was a time I really considered having you put out of the picture."

"That wouldn't do, would it?" the voice laughed again.

"I suppose not," Victor acknowledged. "I'll put this information to good use." He hung up the phone, and ordered the commander to return. "Cooper is in England."

The giraffe blinked and frowned. "Sir how do you…,"

"Never mind how I know it, he's in England, and I know exactly where. If we're quick, we'll catch him with his pants down," a pun he knew, as the raccoon never used pants. "And if not, at least we can tighten the noose." Victor narrowed his eyes, "The time for talk and waiting is over. As of today, Interpol is officially at war with Sly Cooper."

_**I loved how this turned out! It allowed me to show a little bit of background info on Victor, but still add to the mystery of what's going on. And what did ya all think of the surprise that Victor is actually dating Olivia? **_

_**I hope to have a good more chapters to write, but it's probably going to be slow, as somehow I lost my outlines for this story, so either I'll find them, or just make things up as we get closer to the end. Anyway read, and review and enjoy. Also this is the first chapter that is named without using the word and in it. Bit of trivia for you. **_


	30. Dark Plots

_**Ziggy's corner: The 30th chapter. Here we go! As to the length I have no idea, but I did find my outlines again, so that's a good thing. Okay this thing is actually going to be a short, small chapter, kinda a meeting of the bad guys. **_

Neyla stalked into the hall and sat down, next to the cult members. "Our glorious leader isn't here today?" she asked, looking around the room. The area was dark, and thin as bone, sunk in as if someone was drinking it through a straw. "He was the one to call the meeting."

"Calm down, Neyla," Emmanuel snapped, his image appearing before them in a hover disk. "There are other matters that needed to be dealt with. Now on to our plans. The dark god, Tsirael is close to his resurrection, and time is of the essence."

"Everything we need," one of the cloth covered fanatics began.

"We do not yet have everything we need," Emmanuel snarled, "what we've done, we have just started. It won't be over until Sly Cooper bleeds."

"Until everyone on this earth rejects him, and accepts our goals," Neyla said acknowledging.

Emmanuel chuckled, a deep, dark, echoing thing that sent shivers up their spines. "Well, not everyone needs to accept our ideals, there is a need for sacrifices." There were a few chuckles at this. "My friends, we are about to become servants to the new god, servants who will live for a thousand millennia. And all that stands in our way are a couple of groups of thieves. I think we can toast to a victory here!"

The dark, isolated room burst into cheers of delight as the members rose their glasses. "Sly Cooper will bleed, and when he does, the world will be covered in darkness. And within that darkness people will discover the ultimate light, one that is far superior to the false one that passes for truth nowadays."

"What is our next mission?" Neyla asked.

"We wait, and bid our time," Emmanuel said. "We already have a few new agents coming into the fold for us, soon Sly Cooper will find himself completely surrounded with no where to go."

"And what about that damn Carmelita Fox?" Neyla asked.

"When the time comes, she will have her blood drained… by you my dear," Emmanuel said with a smile. "My gift to you for doing such a good job."

Neyla looked shocked at first, and then smiled, looking forward to that moment. She relished the idea of seeing her eyes turn into lifeless orbs under her grasp. "Thank you sir," she said, showing respect for the first time. "We are going to be moving to the next stage?"

"Yes my dear, we will most definitely be going to the next stage, but first we have to make sure that Interpol knows where to find that damn Cooper, and once we do that, we'll move into the next stage of planning."

"Sir, we can't possibly wait that long for this to happen, we've waited far too long all these hundreds of years as it is, why not just expose ourselves now? There is no one capable of stopping us from here."

Emmanuel glared at the member, his eyes turning red as the flames of hell. "You are questioning my authority?"

"Sir, I was just saying….," he began.

The platform beneath him opened and he dropped, screaming as he fell into the abyss. Emmanuel looked up at the others and smirked. "Are there any others who would like to question me?" There was a deep silence, dread filled their bodies with the exception of Neyla. "I did not think you'd want to, now is the time we …," he stopped his eyes widening. "Where is she?"

"The woman?" Neyla asked. Emmanuel nodded his head, he wanted her here for this, he wanted to know what was happening. Just to rub it in.

"Where is she," he said slowly, his voice growling. His eyes filled with darker hate.

"She slipped into a coma last night," one of the followers said. "We tried to wake her but…"

"I wasn't told of this?" Emmanuel growled, his voice filling the room like a boom of thunder.

"I've got people on it," Neyla said. "I know how important she is to our cause, and I will say this, those who were fool enough to allow this to happen are already with our dark god," her lips pulled up into a thick, cruel heavy metallic smile.

"Well then there's something to compensate my anger," he said with a dark and wicked smile. "I really wonder how much blood has been spilt?"

"I don't remember," another cult member said, "I lost count at six hundred." The room howled with laughter. Emmanuel looked down at him as if he was some kind of demented Jesus looking down from a demented heaven, approving something that his child had said.

"We still have that idiot Interpol commissioner to deal with," another one chimed in.

Emmanuel narrowed his eyes and thought. "He'll be a useful tool, that damn fool, but even that idiot's time will come."

"All the little puppets doing exactly what the puppet masters want," Neyla said with a smile.

"Put all of them up against the other, and the fools will practically hand us their pretty little necks," a dark gray goat said with a baying laugh.

"For us to slit from ear to ear," a lioness said with a roar of laughter.

Emmanuel waved away the laughter and tapped his foot. "We all have our mission now, our new orders from Tsirael, and now if you follow me," he brought up his wrist, and slashed it, his followers doing the same thing, "its time for us to say our prayers."

The small group of hateful, power hungry fiends lowered their wrists over a bowl and used cup to drink each other's blood, minus of course Emmanuel, who simply drank someone else's blood. Then they spoke in some foreign language and stood up, nearly hypnotized, their eyes glazed over.

"Gentlemen and ladies, to the ascension of Tsirael." Emmanuel said.

"To the Ascension of Tsirael!" they chanted.

_**Ziggy's notes: Okay I know this was short, and major league dark. But I wanted to show just how evil the bad guys really were. They're down right Demonic! Anyway the next chapter is going to get longer, but it's going to dark, perhaps not this dark, but its going to be dark. Sorry if I scared anyone.**_


End file.
